 
Insurrection

A Story By

Philip R Benge

Smashwords Edition

***************

Published by

Philip R Benge on Smashwords

Insurrection

Copyright Philip R Benge 2019

Cover Art courtesy of NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite.

Thank you for downloading this eBook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form, except for quotes used in reviews.

Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One: Forced to Run

Chapter Two: Escape from Khardia

Chapter Three: Flight

Chapter Four: Athena wants to Stay and Fight

Chapter Five: A Throw of the Dice

About the Author

Other Books by the Author

Insurrection

Prologue

Kritania, a planet over 100 light-years from Earth was home to a peaceful, vibrant and growing culture. It was just approaching the point that Earth was in, back in the early twentieth century, without all of the wars that solved nothing, but created so many problems. It was not a utopian paradise however, for one thing it was not a democracy, it was a fully-fledged Empire ruled over by an emperor. The empire was divided up in to principalities, these were ruled over by local princes who governed without the emperor interfering in any way, he was happy as long as any disputes did not result in a local war between the principalities. If any prince was foolish enough to resort to war, the emperor could call on all the other principalities to send in troops to stop the war and arrest the local rulers involved in the war. The non-interference rule led to differences in the way the people were governed, although normally the people were free to live as they wished, as long as they paid their taxes and obeyed the laws, however, some of the princes were said to rule with an iron fist.

The last war had finished centuries before, with the emperor's ancestors winning the war. Since then, the only weapons that were allowed were the bow, the lance and the knife, with the length of its blade being no longer than six inches. This was to prevent an even more terrible war, if the gods desired to inflict one upon their people. Back then, the emperor had noticed the way that technology was leading them, terrible weapons were made possible by their scientists, and if given the go-ahead they could have built, tested and finally created the weapons used in Earth's wars. The scientists of Kritania had already created many modern wonders, non-military of course, there was an extensive railway network, using steam engines for long distance travel. The locals all possessed a bicycle for local travel and the first automobiles were just hitting the road. Newspapers now told the populace what was happening on the other side of the planet, the only limit to their freedom, they were not allowed to criticize the policies of the emperor as regards anything, especially his views on modernisation. Even the radio had come to the planet, with the same limits set upon it as had been set on the newspapers.

Most of the planet's produce or population was either moved by train for longer distance travel, or for short distances, by vehicles drawn by horse like creatures called an alogo, animals similar to the horse of Earth but striped like a zebra and with the ears of a mule, although the automobile was now being seen on the roads.

In the southern province of Delia, far from the capital city of Khardia, which was in the northern hemisphere, the local ruler, Prince Kali had been forced in to a deal with the Maliki space pirates. They would help make him the overall ruler of Kritania, provide his men with better weapons than those possessed elsewhere on the planet. Their price for this, Kali would open the planet up to the off-world mining corporations, who wanted to plunder its mineral wealth. The resulting income would make them both very rich men. However, the leader of the Maliki, Barbarossa, did not want any of the people of Kritania to be armed with energy weapons, so he only provided Kali with two plasma pistols, one for him and the another for the commander in charge of his warriors. For the rest of Kali's army, he provided them with broadswords made of the finest steel, and matching armoured shields to protect them from the crossbow bolt that could be fired at them by the warriors of the emperor and the minor princes of Kritania. However, they would be backed by the plasma cannons upon the pirates' starships and the plasma pistols carried by the pirate crews, who would ensure that no one fought to stop Kali taking power.

Prince Kali had not wanted to be a part of Barbarossa's plans, however, Barbarossa had threatened to lay waste to Delia and then offer the deal to one of the other princes, and so Prince Kali had agonised over the two choices. Yes, he did think that Say'd Syn should be deposed, but he did not like the involvement of Barbarossa, but he knew that the other princes would jump at the chance, and some were barbaric, therefore, he had no choice other than to agree.

Chapter One

Forced to Run

Khardia was situated in the northern hemisphere, it was the capital city of Kritania, a city of both the ancient and the modern. In the centre of the city was the royal palace, surrounded by an ancient wall, the old walled town of Khardia surrounded it and in turn the modern city surrounded it.

The ruler of the planet Kritania, the Emperor Say'd Syn, sat within his palace, he was a troubled man, for he had been told by his planetary council that his only daughter, Princess Athena, who was the heir to the throne, must marry within six months. It was so she could produce an heir, otherwise, they, the princes of Kritania, would insist that she marry a man of their choosing. The reason for their demand was that Athena was twenty years old and well past the age that young women normally married on Kritania, especially if they were a princess of the blood. She was also a very beautiful young woman, and many of the Princes had attempted to court her, however, so far, she had shown no interest in any of them.

This ruling soon became meaningless though, for it was at this point that the ruler of the Maliki, Barbarossa, involved himself in the planet's politics. Barbarossa was originally a native of Kritania, he had left the planet on a pirate ship twenty years ago and after rising through the ranks he now ruled over the Maliki, space pirates that pillaged the local planetary systems. Kritania paid him tribute in goods; food, precious jewels and they also provided him with a base from which to enjoy a little shore leave, it was near to the city of Rashid, a wild city ruled over by Prince Zahid. However, it seemed that all this was not enough, for on the evening of the anniversary of Say'd Syn's accession to the throne, the ten spaceships of the Maliki arrived over the city of Khardia and one, the flagship, hovered over the royal palace of Khardia. Inside the flagship were Prince Kali along with the four senior officers that commanded his militia. With the pirate ships positioned above the royal palace, they walked from the ship's galley, in which they had sat during the short journey, to the small hanger deck of the starship. Here they boarded a small shuttlecraft, converted in to a ground attack ship and fitted with a light plasma cannon in the lower section of its bows. Leaving the starship the shuttle carried them to the very gates of the palace, they were accompanied by Barbarossa and ten of his pirate crew.

Kali had not only arrived with his four senior officers, he had brought with him an army of his bravest warriors, all brought to Khardia aboard the other pirate starships. He also had under his command 400 mercenaries, which Barbarossa had forced Kali to include in his army, much against Kali's wishes, for they were a motley bunch consisting mostly of the criminal class. They had been recruited from around Kritania and armed by Barbarossa with broad swords made of the finest steel. The mercenaries came from across the planet, lured with the promise of gold, alcohol and women. They were due to arrive at their various posts over the next few hours, some of them had been brought to Khardia by the railway, showing that even a supposedly innocent item could be used to make war.

On leaving the shuttle craft, the small group, led by Barbarossa, strode through the gates of the royal palace and in to the palace itself, pushing the guards aside who had tried to resist this intrusion. Barbarossa and Prince Kali walked straight in to the throne room, with their men following on behind, and they presented themselves to Say'd Syn. Looking contemptuously upon the ruler of Kritania, Barbarossa said.

"Greeting and felicitations Say'd Syn, I hope that you are well, as I am on this the twenty-first anniversary of your accession to the throne of your beautiful planet. Say'd Syn. I must say that I like your palace, it is a lot roomier than my starship, pity that its tenant forgot to fit the plasma cannons, that mistake will be your last one, because we are about to evict you old man." A smirk upon the face of Barbarossa as he turned to Prince Kali to listen to what he had to say.

"I will not beat about the bush Say'd Syn, I am here because I need an heir and I have decided to honour your daughter, Princess Athena by taking her as my bride." Prince Kali said, laughing when he saw the angry look upon Say'd Syn's face, but he had not finished humiliating the ruler of Kritania. "Say'd Syn, I begged you to allow our planet's industrial revolution to grow at a faster rate than it is currently managing under your rule, but you refused, and because of your refusal many of our people have been forced to remain in the poverty forced upon them by you and your elite conies." Kali said angrily, and after a quick glance at Barbarossa, who smiled approvingly, he added contemptuously. "Therefore, Say'd Syn, the morning after my marriage to your daughter, you will abdicate your throne and name me, as your successor." Kali looked grim as he went on to add a warning.

"100 warriors from my personal militia are already taking control of the palace grounds and buildings, they are also in control of the old town of Khardia. I also have 400 mercenaries in my employ, some have taken control of the modern capital city, having arrived here by train, others, together with another contingent of my warriors, have taken possession of Bhuta and its space port. If this is not enough to cow you Say'd Syn, the powerful weapons of the Maliki starships are trained upon Khardia awaiting orders from Prince Barbarossa, resistance would be bloody and futile, believe me. You have two weeks to agree to a peaceful transition, after which my army, together with my new allies, the Maliki, will come to your palace and should you resist Say'd Syn, I will take your throne by force, marry your daughter and throw you in to one of your own dank prisons. We give you this time of grace so that you can ensure that the transition is peaceful, rather that violent."

"Bye old man, I hope you get to live long enough to enjoy your retirement." Barbarossa said sneeringly. He would have liked to stay to humiliate Say'd Syn more, to kick his courtiers out of the palace, to take the women of the palace to his bed, however, something else demanded his attention.

About to leave the palace, Prince Kali noticed a statue of Say'd Syn's father, Tobias Syn. Kali's father, and now himself, had both been forced to pay exorbitant taxes to the emperor, that or be imprisoned, his palace and wealth confiscated, and finally, Delia would be put under martial law and its citizens made to pay even more exorbitant taxes. His anger at this injustice, amongst others that he had already voiced, got the better of him, he fired his plasma pistol at the statue blasting it in to small pieces. Then he turned and left. He had long wanted to meet the princess, finally, he would do so, Say'd Syn would be unable to refuse him, not with the Maliki to enforce his proposal of marriage. At least this silver lining lit the darkness that surrounded it, maybe the future of Kritania would be equally bright.

Like many rulers, elected or otherwise, Say'd Syn had no knowledge of what it felt like to be poor, to suffer poverty, to go without the necessities of life, which was why he had not changed the way things were, and had been, in the empire over the last three centuries. Even when Prince Kali had come to plead for change, he had refused to change his mind and allow more modernisation, more industrialisation, which in turn would create more, and better paid, jobs for the masses. He refused to believe that some of his people lived in poverty when he had not seen any evidence of it within the old walled town of Khardia, which was affluent compared to the large shanty town that surrounded the modern city of Khardia. Unfortunately, poverty ruled in much of rural Kritania, except for in the homes of the ruling elite.

With Kali and Barbarossa gone, Say'd Syn sat on his throne, stunned by the sudden turn of events, he felt fear for the first time ever. Looking around at his courtiers and advisors, he saw that they too were afraid, however, he did not realise that they were afraid that they were about to lose their affluent lifestyle, they were not afraid for the emperor, his daughter or the people of Kritania.

His mind was in a turmoil, his people had no defence against the Maliki, Barbarossa was right in that. The Kritanians were a peaceful people and had not possessed an army for centuries, all they had were the local militias. This had suited his family, for up until today, no one had been strong enough to oppose them. Now though, the strong city walls would be no defence against such weapons possessed by the Maliki, the walls had last been patrolled by guards centuries ago, the heavy gates in to the palace and also those to the old town were never closed. Should he now have them both closed? No, to resist would leave his people trapped behind them, to finally die of hunger, thirst and disease, that is, those that survived the terrible weapons of the Maliki. And, if he was to refuse Prince Kali's demand and order his Lancers to fight, it would mean his brave Lancers would die against the energy weapons of the Maliki. After their death, many more of his people would die, because of him, that he could not countenance. However, he would not hand his young daughter over to the prince, who was noted for his brutality, although, whether Kali deserved this slur Say'd Syn could not say, for only the royal propaganda department would know for sure and he had never bothered to find out the truth behind their claims. What was he to do? He would kill her, rather than allow Prince Kali to marry her, for the marriage would give some substance to Kali's claim to be the new emperor of Kritania. But then, what of his family and friends, they might then suffer the anger of Kali and the Maliki, if he murdered his own daughter. And, even his people would agree with the usurper that this very action justified Kali's order to execute him.

What though, Say'd Syn wondered, was the true reason of why he had been given two weeks to agree to their demands, surely it would have been easier for the Maliki ships to hover over his city and force him to immediately agree? Instead the starships had gone back up in to the sky, remaining there, he supposed, as a covert threat to him and his people. Say'd Syn looked about him, at his advisors, however, no one came forward to offer either a plan or comfort, they too were stunned, unable to even think for the moment.

The reason was more real than that, for the Maliki had their own emergency, at the last moment, even as they hovered over the city, their starships had been needed elsewhere, to fight against another pirate fleet, whose fleet was even now attacking one of his bases. His enemy, known as the Brotherhood, were attempting to move in on the planets that owed him their fealty and especially Kritania which was rich, populous and relatively unarmed. Kali had been furious at being put in this position, but what could he do or say that would not bring Barbarossa's wrath down upon him. However, Barbarossa was not annoyed by the emergency, he saw it as a way to remind Prince Kali, just who the senior partner was in their joint venture.

Instead Kali's warriors, and the mercenaries that were even now arriving in Khardia and elsewhere, were a constant reminder of his threat, they guarded the palace gate, the gates to the ancient exterior walls of the old town of Khardia, and the railway station. They now searched every vehicle that left the old town, to ensure that Princess Athena did not attempt to escape from her future husband and master. To have attempted more might have exposed the threat of the destruction of their city as an empty one, for the moment.

Without the Maliki, Prince Kali knew that he was powerless to act, else he could lose everything to the Lancers of Khardia, who were as adept with their crossbows as they were with their lances and who were loyal to Say'd Syn. The citizens of Khardia would also be a problem, many still possessed the illegal Khardian Knife, an evil looking weapon fully twelve inches long and well capable of slitting the throats of his warriors as they patrolled the streets of the capital. Then there were the healers, many poisons were known to this group of people, they would be only too willing to supply them to the many cafe and restaurant owners, his warriors would stand no chance if these three threats combined to destroy his army. One thing he could do, he could have the gates in to the old walled town closed from sunset until sunrise the following day, to come in to affect the following night. He would tell the people that it would only be in effect until he was crowned emperor, to ensure that the transition was peaceful. Show the people that he ruled them, their lives were in his hands, not Say'd Syn or the Maliki. Once the princess was his wife, the people would fall in to line, if she was happy enough to surrender to him, then they would not risk their lives to fight for Say'd Syn, or his dynasty.

One other thing that he was able to do, he sent his commanders to the Khardia radio station and the major newspapers, they were told to inform the populace of the upcoming wedding and the imminent change in leadership. This they were happy to do, for Prince Kali also said he intended to repeal the censorship laws, seeing this as an expression of his belief in freedom, rather than feeling the giant heel that Say'd Syn used to keep them in line.

**********

Standing in the top room of the tallest tower of his palace, Say'd Syn's thoughts centred upon a possible miscalculation made by both himself and his ancestors. Should their very able scientists have been asked to design modern weapons, ones that could have taken out the pirate starships, their ground attack ships and their warriors, when the Maliki had first arrived in their planetary system? By refusing to do so, it meant that they were no longer masters of their own future, as Say'd Syn had discovered now that he was being forced to abdicate.

As he looked out across the palace walls to the old town beyond, he realised that his grave error had also meant that they had been forced in to giving the pirates a base to rest up in, on Kritania, and in doing so they were aiding their enemy to pillage other systems. This he knew had angered both the planets of Earth and Mazere, for one of their starship captain's, Ray Tempest, had said as much when his ship had called on Kritania to speak to Say's Syn about the planet's future policies.

Also, because of Say'd Syn's choice in holding back the development of the planet, and then aiding the pirates, neither of the two planets would send a fleet to fight on Kritania's behalf. Captain Tempest had stated that unless he allowed the Kritanian people more freedom and also gave permission for Earth to build a military base on the planet's moon, he would have to deal with the consequences of his family's actions. This, Say'd Syn knew, was partly to aid Earth's expansionist plans, and so he had not agreed to such a deal, for with a powerful alien fleet on Kritania's moon, who knew what else they might want, or how their alien ideas might influence his people. So instead, the two planets just kept a watch on the pirates, in case they attempted to move in to their area of space.

With time being in short supply, Say'd Syn wondered if he should not place all their future wellbeing in to the hands of the gods, let them decide the future of his people. Not yet though, first, he must make use of one of the few modern devices on his planet, left there and kept secret, it was hidden within the room in which he was standing. It was a subspace communications unit left there by the Captain Ray Tempest, who had said that in an emergency, Earth was just a call away, if they could help, they would. In answer to this friendly comment, he, Say'd Syn, had thanked him but said that his world was peaceful, with no known enemies powerful enough to warrant such a call.

Even so, Say'd Syn knew that Earth could not muster a fleet in time to save his people, even if they wanted to go to war for an alien ruler with different beliefs to their own, which was as the good captain had stated earlier. In any case, his planet was many day's travel away, by the time a fleet arrived, it would all be over with Kali installed as the new ruler. No, he would not risk the wellbeing of his people, his rule was over, he must abdicate, but not until his daughter was safely away from the city. Only then would he make Kali the new ruler of Kritania, to save his people the death and destruction that always accompanied war. Surely Kali would accept the throne, and not take out his anger upon the people of Khardia because he could not marry his daughter, Athena. Say'd Syn decided that he would ask Earth for the help of one man, Captain Tempest, if he was prepared to risk his own life and take Athena to safety, to Earth. However, if he did not return to Kritania in time, then he would have to consult the gods, ask them whether he should kill his daughter, or, hand her over to Kali. Say'd Syn turned on the device, which immediately sprang to life, lights coming on the front of it and sounds coming from within it.

"This is the Emperor of Kritania calling, I must speak to the space fleet of Earth, it is an emergency." He said in a firm clear voice that he hoped did not betray his fears.

Say'd Syn sat waiting, five minutes passed, and then other parts of the device lit up.

"This is Admiral Nelson, Your Royal Highness, how may I be of service to you?"

"You speak my language Sir; I am both honoured and surprised?" Say'd Syn replied.

"No, your Royal Highness, I am too old to learn new languages, the device we are using is translating what we both say in to our own languages."

Say'd Syn smiled, of course, why would an admiral learn the language of a backward planet so very far away from his own. Then Say'd Syn got down to business, he told Nelson everything that had occurred on his planet, although he had embellished his account to make himself appear the injured party, finishing off with his request.

"I need you to send Captain Tempest to my palace, for he not only speaks our language, but he knows our city, our palace and more importantly, us. Tell him that he must enter my city covertly and my palace too, and before the two-week deadline. I need him to take my daughter, Princess Athena, back to your planet where she will be safe. She will be accompanied by her handmaiden, for it would not be proper for a blood princess to travel alone with a man who is not her husband, or a member of her family." Then Say'd Syn added. "He should come alone, for too many strangers would be noticed, however, one, who knew the ways of our people could accomplish it, if he is willing to risk his life for someone he hardly knows."

"I will ask Captain Tempest, and if he is willing to risk his life, I will allow him to answer your request from help. Given the circumstances on your planet, I will not call back, for the Maliki might intercept the message. If, Captain Tempest agrees to come to your aid, you should expect to see him before the two-week deadline expires." Admiral Nelson replied.

When Say'd Syn told his daughter of the demands of Prince Kali, and of his request to Earth for them to send Captain Tempest to escort her to Earth, she had cried and begged him to allow her to stay, to stand beside him, to tell the Delian upstart what he could with his proposal of marriage.

"He will kill you father, if I run away like a coward, I could not stand to live knowing that you had died because of me."

"Have no fear Athena, he will not kill me, in any case, it is almost the winter solstice, the gods will not forsake me." Say'd Syn did not believe this to be the case, for the gods never seemed to come in on the side of his family, or anyone else's come to that. However, he needed to reassure his daughter, so he continued. "Athena, if the gods do forsake me, the people who are loyal to me, and there are many, they will rise up and destroy him. He must realise that he could not wage war on the districts that refused to acknowledge his rule, for then, all those that had done so, they too would revolt against him. No, Athena, he needs me alive, at least until he has made you his bride, only then could he contemplate murder, and only after enough time had passed to allow the memory of me to dim in the minds of our people. So, you see Athena, you must flee, for my sake as well as for the sake of our people."

His thoughts differed from those of Prince Kali, one saw the people rising up in revenge, should he be murdered. The other saw the people as accepting his rule, whether the princess stayed and married him, or, if she fled, leaving her father to die and the people to their fate.

**********

On Earth, Ray Tempest was called in to the office of the admiral of the fleet, he knew that the reason must be important, otherwise he would have received his orders, if he was about to receive any, from his immediate superior.

"Sit down Captain, thank you for coming so promptly. I need you to go on an urgent but potentially dangerous mission, one in which you will have to travel alone for the main part of the mission."

Then Admiral Nelson told him all that Say'd Syn had told him, apart from the request.

"Are you fit Captain, is your wound fully healed?" Nelson asked.

"Yes, Sir, I am fully fit and ready to return to action." Ray replied quizzically.

"As you know, having been injured in the police action, our starships are busy fighting other enemies and we cannot afford to send one ship, let alone a fleet, to fight the Maliki. In any case, I could not agree to send military aid to the emperor, not until he not only allows a greater degree of freedom to his people, but fights the poverty that is the norm for many. However, I will allow you to travel to Kritania to rescue Princess Athena and to bring her and her handmaiden to Earth, but without causing an inter-stellar incident. This is their problem not ours, so if you want to decline it, say so now."

Then Nelson added. "There is one more thing Captain, before you decide. We understand from our agents in that sector in space that the Maliki are not in orbit around the planet, they are involved in their own little war against the Brotherhood, they, as you probably know, are another pirate band, so you should be able to arrive and depart without encountering them, it all depends on your luck."

"My luck seems to be running okay at the moment Admiral, but the Moirai or Fates as we say in English, sometimes get themselves involved, so it depends on whether I have annoyed them lately, or not." Ray replied. "And, from what I have seen of Say'd Syn, he appears to be okay, for an emperor, one that is out of touch with his people. Mind you, I would not risk my life for him, even though he has ruled over a planet that is relatively peaceful, as it has been for centuries. My reason coincides with your own Admiral, it is because of the poverty amongst many of his people, one which appears to be never ending. However, I would not want to be the cause of his daughter's death or dishonour, so I am quite willing to go to Kritania to bring her back to Earth. If all goes well, I will only be there for two days, the risks to me should be minimal." Ray replied.

"Good, that is just as I expected Captain." Nelson smiled and then asked. "Does that old space pirate Jonah Smart still have his freighter in good condition, is it up to a round space flight of forty light-years from Mazere to Kritania and back?"

"Yes, Sir, but it is no longer fast, I take it that we will have a lift for the first leg of the journey, if we leaving from Mazere?"

"Yes, Captain, the Space Adventure is heading for the planet Mazere, the owners are willing to give Smart's small craft a lift as far as there, although they will be charging us for the ride. The rest will be up to you." Nelson said. "Captain, when you arrive back on Mazere, contact me, I will arrange for transport for the final leg, for you, the princess and her handmaiden. Captain Smart can make his own way back to Earth, with the space fleet paying any reasonable charges levied by Smart."

"I am sure that Jonah will manage Admiral." Ray replied with a smile.

"Captain, you will need a reason for landing on Kritania, have Smart fill up his craft with cheap household utensils, they should be snapped up by the locals if he is careful as to what he takes with him. Pay for anything you need with your space fleet card, I will ensure that the accounts department pay for anything, within reason. Captain, the Space Adventure leaves in fifteen hours, ensure that Captain Smart's freighter is latched on to its upper hull when it leaves. Any problems and you can contact my office and they will try to assist you. Needless to say, this mission is top secret, make sure that Captain Smart understands that."

Ray left the admiral's office, his mind working on all of the things he would need, but he knew that first he must talk to Jonah, he and his spaceship were essential, if he was to arrive on Kritania covertly. He did not realise just what dangers lay in wait for him, his last visit to Kritania had been relatively pleasant, which was how he saw this mission, as a pleasant interlude where he would rescue the beautiful damsel in distress. Only the poverty, that he had seen on his last visit, in the slum districts of Khardia, when his shuttle had passed over it on the way to the palace, had been distressing, for he saw it as unnecessary in such a planet where peace had ruled for so long.

His mind was too full of planning the essentials for the mission, to really consider just what could go wrong. Which meant that he was happy to find that Jonah Smart was aboard his small freighter when he came calling, it took Ray just minutes to tell him the reason behind his visit.

"We should be on the planet for under two days Jonah, which should be before the return of the Maliki." Ray said finishing off his summary of their mission.

"She must be a looker Ray, for you to agree to this mission, you do realise that this mission will be filled with danger, especially if the pirates return earlier than your experts believe?"

"All my missions are filled with danger, Jonah, at least this one has a beautiful princess waiting for her white knight to rescue her from the evil prince." Ray retorted cheerfully, although Jonah's comments regarding the dangers involved did make him stop and think for a moment.

"Okay, Ray, if you believe that we can do it safely, then I will take you." Jonah replied with just a trace of doubt. "If we are to get to the Space Adventurer in time, then you had better collect what you need, while I will head over to pick up the merchandise from Marty's Emporium, you can meet me there in three hours' time to pay the man. That will leave you free to pick up everything else you will need."

While Ray went to the Asian side of town to visit another friend, Jonah walked up to the bridge of the freighter to prepare for the short hop across the space port to Marty's Emporium, where he would collect their cargo.

Away from the space port, Ray was greeting an old friend. "Michael, how are you?" Ray said on greeting his friend Michael Patel.

"Fine thanks, what brings you here, we were set to meet on Sunday, what's up, got another appointment on Venus then?"

"Not quite Michael, this time I have to dress up in the sort of attire that an Indian trader of the nineteenth century would wear, know anyone who could help me?" Ray joked.

"Funny, Ray, are you serious or are you on something?"

"I am serious Michael, I have to colour my skin and then dress accordingly, the life of a beautiful alien princess is at stake, and her people dress in a fashion not too dissimilar to how your own people did over three hundred years ago. So, can you fit me out?" Ray replied and then added.

"One thing Michael, this is a top-secret off-world mission, so you must not say anything, to anyone, apart from your beautiful wife of course." Ray said

"Okay, Ray, we will keep your secret."

Finally, Ray had everything that he would need on his mission and turning to his friend he said as he prepared to leave. "Thank you for your help Michael, I will take you and Rani out for a meal when I get back."

"I always said that you wanted to be an Asian and not an Englishman, you have finally realised that we have much more fun." Michael called after Ray's departing back.

Ray waved as he drove away through the busy city traffic until he finally got clear of it, and one hour later Ray was driving at speed, he would just about get to Marty's Emporium on time, if the traffic was not too heavy. His friend had supplied him with a white linen suit and an expensive cream that he had made for a different use, however with an added tint, which he also supplied. It would colour Ray's skin admirably and without it wearing off for at least a week, when he would have to reapply the cream.

He managed to get to Marty's Emporium just as Marty and Jonah had finished loading. Seeing his friend, Ray did pause for a moment, concern for his friend's safety, should the mission take an unexpected turn, making his conscience begin to work at top speed, then he pushed it to the back of his mind, they would only be on the planet for two days, nothing could go wrong.

"Just like always, Ray turns up when all the hard work is done." Jonah remarked facetiously.

"What happened Ray, has the space fleet realised that they can do without you?" Marty asked jovially.

"Now you know that will never happen Marty." Ray replied. "So, how much do you want for all this junk?"

Thirty minutes later, and after a coffee, they left a happy merchant who had just had a good day at the warehouse selling many things that he had thought that he would never get rid of. However, on Kritania, this so-called junk would be viewed as technological miracles from Earth, goods that their people could never manufacture, not without a massive change of policy on the part of their leaders.

As for Ray, he was content with their cargo, after all, he was not interested in making a profit, any money they received would go towards paying Jonah for the hire of his starship and taking it to a potentially dangerous area of space. With Jonah piloting the freighter, they arrived at the space dock and the Space Adventurer in plenty of time, which was a real freighter, new, large and fast.

"Space Adventurer, this is Captain Ray Tempest calling from the freighter Aldebra, where do you want us?"

"Welcome, Aldebra, move slowly along our upper hull, land, gently, where the locking clamps are positioned. They have been arranged in a position for your craft alone, when you are ready, let us know and we will lock you in position."

Ray smiled, his last command had been the latest model of space cruiser, his new post was that as 2nd officer aboard a small and rather aging freighter, one which was full of inexpensive household goods for sale to the locals of Kritania. He smiled, at least this time he would get the girl, if only for a limited time, the last time she had almost got him, which was why he had been injured. The woman in question being the alien captain of an enemy starship.

Three days' later and they said goodbye to the Space Adventurer and headed for the planet Kritania under their own power, which was at less than half the speed of their recent taxi. Their six-day journey was uneventful and one day out from the planet, Ray dyed his hair black, something he would have to do on a regular basis until he was safely back aboard the spaceship. He then coloured his skin, with the assistance of Jonah, who coloured his back. Finally, as they prepared to land at the space port, Ray donned his new clothes. He had not shaved since leaving the Space Adventurer, wanting to look a little unkempt, he wore an eye patch over his left eye and a gaudy scarf about his head. He hoped that his new appearance would deter some from approaching him and convince others as to the type of man he was, dangerous and not to be trusted. Before they entered the planet's atmosphere, Ray went over with Jonah what problems could arise while he was away rescuing the princess.

"Jonah, I should be back with the princess sometime tomorrow, then we can head back to Earth at our best speed. However, if the Maliki return earlier than expected, and while I am away, you will have to stay grounded until they have left the area. The authorities will understand, and anyway, there will be other spaceships who will be unwilling to lift off with the Maliki fleet in orbit around the planet."

"What happens if the Maliki offer to take platinum for a guaranteed safe passage away from the planet, do I pay and leave or wait them out?" Jonah asked.

"You wait them out, otherwise, you will not be able to return for me without incurring at the least a charge to allow your ship to continue to Kritania, and that would seem a little suspicious even to a pirate, seeing as you would have left a short time before. The authorities will understand, as some of the other small freighters will not be able to afford to pay for the safe passage, their profit margins are just too fine." Ray replied.

**********

Their landing site was a large grassy area designated as the official Kritanian space port, which was a mile away from the small town of Bhuta and thirty miles away from the city of Rashid where the Maliki had a base. Bhuta was 300 miles away from the capital city Khardia, and connected by an aging railway line that, thanks to the coal mines, was only now having money spent on it, that and because of the space port that was itself creating jobs, all be it slowly, in the import export industry. Bhuta had a population of 40,000 people, its main industry was now coal, which had been discovered thirty years previously. New mines were being dug out of the farmland and the owners of these mines were growing rich selling this valuable resource to the electricity power stations.

Electricity was seen as a modern miracle by the planet's population and it powered the first of the newly built factories all over the planet, although Say'd Syn had kept their numbers down to a minimum. This was one of the reasons why the populace was growing increasingly dissatisfied with his rule, his aversion to anything modern which was made abundantly clear when he brought in a quota that he had imposed upon the building of new large factories.

It had been Say'd Syn who had decided on Bhuta as the only space port on the planet, to reduce the likelihood of alien contamination of his people's culture and way of life. He was also opposed to allowing the-off world mining corporations access to its mineral wealth, stating that they had exhausted their own world's mineral wealth, he was not about to allow them to also exhaust Kritania's mineral wealth. These two policies had created much anger amongst the poorer people of Kritania, but he would not budge from his position. He had heard of the problems created in the distant past of Kritania, when a large influx of people of another culture had mixed with a peaceful people and changed their culture. He did not want to take the chance of the off-worlders affecting changes to Kritania, changes that could cause blood to be shed as the two cultures battled for dominance.

As they approached Kritania, Ray gave Jonah some final instructions.

"Jonah, I do not know how long I will be away, so if you feel exposed at the space port, then leave, if the Maliki fleet has not returned by then. In any case, I will contact you when I return, so that you can return and collect me and our two guests. You had better keep back half of our stock, to give you a reason for landing a second time."

"Will do Ray, it will depend on how many other alien vessels are parked at the space port, if they are scarce then I will have to leave as soon as the first half of our stock is sold, otherwise, if the space port is full, then I might be forgotten by the officials, especially if the ship develops a little engine trouble."

"As long as the trouble is fixable in seconds, once we are aboard, I will only feel safer when we are back in space and heading for Mazere. The Mazerens are an odd bunch, however if the Maliki get on our trail, Mazere is a lot nearer than Earth, and the Maliki will not dare to get too near to their modern space fleet."

The small freighter Aldebra landed on the edge of the space port, just as the sun was rising over an arid landscape. This far away from the shack that housed the port officials, allowed Ray to disappear in to the local farm land unnoticed. Much to their disappointment, there were very few other alien starships there, the fear of the imminent return of the Maliki fleet had made most of them leave over the last few days and those remaining seemed to be readying themselves for lift off. All of this meant that Jonah would also have to leave, that or be the only alien starship on the planet.

With his friend gone to meet danger head-on, Jonah wondered anxiously if he would see him again. However, he had faith in the abilities of his young friend and pushing such fears aside, he went to the shack to pay the port dues, in gold coins, the local coinage not being allowed as far as aliens were concerned. He then took the local taxi, a horse and cart, in to Bhuta to meet the local market traders to inform them of his arrival and of the goods that he had to sell. He had been there before, two years ago, selling similar products with great success, so he had purchased goods that he knew he could sell this time around.

Ray had stopped as soon as he was hidden by the nearby tree-line and looked back at the aging freighter, he hoped that his friend would be okay, but yes, he could survive in a nest of vipers, probably by selling them venom, he told himself. In reality, Ray was worried, the lack of other starships meant that Jonah could not hide amongst the crowd, it also meant that other starship captains had more sense than to hang around a soon to be dangerous space port. He turned to look at the farm land that surrounded the space port, it was much as he remembered, then he had come as a friend, now though, enemies could appear from anywhere, he would always have to be on the alert for danger. Ray noticed a large tree nearby, one with a hole beneath it, from his backpack he pulled out the communications device and his energy weapon, both were in a brown metal box. He pushed the box in to the hole and then covered it with soil, it should remain hidden there from even the most inquisitive eyes. This left him with only his knife to protect himself with, it was of an illegal length, its blade being twelve inches, but many still carried such weapons on Kritania and he concealed it beneath his coat.

With only limited time available to him, Ray headed in to the town, the warmth of the morning sun warming him. The temperature was like a warm spring day, but it would appear cool to those from the south, which was where he would say he was from. He first sought out the town's market area, its Bazaar, it lined both sides of a long busy road that ended at the railway station. He did not rush, instead he visited the brightly decorated shops and stalls, he needed to purchase a set of local clothes, a change of underwear, a personal hygiene kit, i.e.; a toothbrush, toothpaste, face cloth, a bar of soap and finally a new pair of sandals. The clothes that he had purchased on Earth were fine, however, once he had the princess, he would stand out as a stranger to Khardia and so stand a better chance of being stopped, questioned and searched. He stopped before a clothes shop, it only sold men's attire, every item on his list was shown, either hanging from the roof or neatly stacked before him on a stall. Although he had passed many that sold similar goods, the owner of this one had looked to be trustworthy, for he did not want word of his passing reaching unfriendly ears, if his disguise was not good enough to pass muster.

"Master, what can I do for one dressed in such fine clothes. You have chosen well, for only my humble stall will be able to provide you with such fine clothes that will meet your discerning eye and high position?" The owner declared.

The owner looked to be in his forties, his bearded face beaming as he wondered how much he could take from this stranger.

"I am from the far south." Ray said in a gravelly voice. "I need some warm clothes to keep me from freezing. To start with I need a warm suit and a heavy overcoat, for I am used to warmer weather, even though the sun is shining I feel cold. I also require five changes of underwear, tell me, what can you offer a man with hard cash and a keen eye for quality?"

"From the South?" The trader asked suspiciously. "You are from Delia then, here with Prince Kali?" The trader asked quizzically with a trace of dislike now noticeable in his voice.

"Me, a Delian, one of those scum, no my friend, I am from the town of Tanier, from a people who take insults badly, so please bear that in mind."

"Ah! You are from Tanier, my Uncle now lives there, he tells me that it is a beautiful part of the world, please forgive me my friend for insulting you." The trader said with approval.

Twenty minutes later and Ray had all the clothing that he needed, and he took a moment to change in to his new clothes before leaving the shop. He had the trader wrap up his original clothes in one brown paper parcel and his change of underwear in a second. Finally, after paying for the goods, at what had to be an exorbitant price, even after the customary haggling, he set off to purchase the other items that he required. As he walked slowly up the long street, two Mahabali, the local police force, kept an eye on him, for with his disguise he appeared to be one of the criminal classes, however, they did not approach him, being more interested in beating down the price for a gold chain at a nearby stall.

Further along the street he had his first glimpse of the mercenaries, a patrol was walking through the market, and they obviously saw themselves as the new rulers of Kritania, and they acted accordingly. They bullied those who looked weak and beat any who complained when they took food from the stalls without paying for it. They demanded large discounts for some of the more expensive goods and if the owner resisted their demands, they threatened him until he gave way. The Mahabali had seen them and had reacted by moving away from the warriors, they too knew who was the present top dog in Bhuta. As for the citizens, they cast angry glances towards the mercenaries, but could do nothing else, as the mercenaries would beat anyone within the market who attempted to stop them physically. If after such an event, the locals took it further, and the mercenaries were forced to defend themselves, they would not be above using their swords or their crossbows, either to disable or to kill. As for Prince Kali, the general opinion amongst the citizens was that he would do nothing in way of punishing his hired thugs, if the citizens took their complaints to him after being beaten, robbed, injured or a relative being slain.

Ray had paid for all the goods that he had purchased with the money that Admiral Nelson had provided him with, money that Ray had brought back from his last trip to Kritania, on the admiral's orders. For even then, Nelson had foreseen the need of it, following the report that traders had made regarding the strength of the anger against Say'd Syn. It was because of his policy of keeping the speed of progress down to a slow canter, rather than raising it to a full gallop. This had been before Ray's first visit, so his conversation with Say'd Syn had not been the reason for the policy, however, it had reinforced the need for it, for Ray had spoken the truth, rather than lie, when asked for his own opinion on a range of matters.

When Ray had all the other items on his shopping list, he bought a local newspaper, the front page being filled with news about the forthcoming marriage, now, according to the newspaper, only days away. He stopped off at a small cafe to read the newspaper, had a hot drink and ate a large lunch, because he did not know when he would have his next meal. It was here that Ray heard that Prince Kali had ordered that the entrances to the old walled town of Khardia, and the palace, be guarded by his warriors, to ensure that the princess did not escape his clutches, and of the closing of the old town gates at sundown. However, this did not alter Ray's plans, it only reinforced the need to enter the palace covertly. In fact, it had been Barbarossa who had insisted upon the guard, arguing that if she escaped, it would make the planned coronation appear fraudulent to the populace. Prince Kali had submitted to this command from the pirate, as to argue against this fact was impossible, and anyway, Barbarossa was not a man to argue with, not without possessing a strong advantage, namely a space cruiser.

Rested, Ray set off towards the railway station, he now had a smaller third parcel, this one contained his hygiene kit, Ray would jettison the parcel with his original clothing when he was sure that he was alone, just in case he was stopped and searched. However, he still did not rush, to do so would be to bring attention to himself, the character he was portraying never rushed, he was too busy looking out for enemies, no, he took his time strolling through the Bazaar. It took him past more brightly arrayed shops selling just about everything, although it was the aromas given off by the spice shops that reminded him of his last trip to Kritania. He passed shops selling clothes, shoes, cheap jewellery and trinkets, food, shops that sold religious paraphernalia, in fact, shops that sold anything that you could possibly require. He could have travelled back in time to the 19th century, to the far east of Earth, for he believed that the bazaars of India must have resembled the Kritania of today.

Finally, he arrived at the railway station, here too there were mercenaries lounging around the platform, accosting the travellers, however, they did not attempt to stop Ray, seeing in him a kindred spirit. There was also a squad of superbly turned out Delian warriors who looked suspiciously at any who passed by, Ray took care to look down at the ground when he passed them on his way to the ticket office. Ray purchased a third-class ticket for Khardia, although, as he wanted to arrive unseen, he planned to leave the train the stop before the train reached the main station, which was in the centre of the town, just outside the old city walls.

The train was packed with travellers, for only one passenger train a day made the journey. When Ray heard this from the official at the ticket office, he knew that the gods were smiling down upon him, for to have missed it could have heralded a disaster. With this limited number of trains available to the populace, Ray was forced to climb up on to the roof of the rear carriage, this, he thought, was one dangerous method of travel. The roof of the carriage that he was sitting on, and on the other carriages, were filled with similar looking passengers, all of them poor and some, who were not travelling far, even hung on to the sides of the carriages. The journey would take the best part of six hours, along the way the train would stop regularly, partly to allow passenger to disembark or for new passengers to clamber on the best they could. The stops also allowed the passengers to purchase food from the traders who flocked to the stations to sell their wares. The food was highly spiced, but filling and Ray knew from experience that it was well cooked and delicious. Twice their progress was delayed by cattle straying on to the railway tracks, the driver slowing the speed of the train down to a crawl as he literally pushed the animals out of the way using the front of the engine to do so. Once the train stopped while the crew helped to push an ox cart off the tracks, for the Kritanian oxen were stubborn beasts and this pair had decided to stop to rest and with the cart still on the track. This was nothing like Earth, and a part of Ray did wish that Earth too moved at a slower pace, in some ways at least.

The security arrangements that has caused trouble in the inner city of Khardia for the last week were not overly present in the towns and villages along the train's route, Ray, of course, was unaware of the extra security there, except for the new guards at the gates, however, he thought that the situation in the capital city might have deteriorated some since his last visit. All seemed peaceful in the countryside, but then the poor farmers were usually untouched by civil strife, they were too busy working. No, the countryside seemed to be the same as his last trip, idyllic, if you were not one of the farm workers toiling away all day, every day and with little recompense.

The train finally arrived at Khardia Junction and Ray slipped down from the top of the carriage, along with a few similarly minded people, and away without anyone who looked to be official, noticing. It was now that he buried the clothes that he had purchased on earth, this left him with just two small parcels. He then began his five mile walk in to the centre of Khardia, entering through one of the poorer districts and working his way through the more affluent residential area until he neared the ancient walls that surrounded the old town. Now the easy-going air of the people changed, for Kali's warriors were everywhere, once again the mercenaries bullied the weak and threatened anyone who disagreed with their scare tactics. The sun was just about to set when Ray, head down, just managed to enter the walled part of the old city before the gates were closed for the curfew by Kali's warriors.

The wall still went completely around the old city, it was ten miles in circumference and over twenty feet high. Access towers had been built in at the four gates, set at the four points of the compass and there were also access towers set a quarter of a mile apart between each gate. The doors to the access towers were always kept locked at sunset, to prevent access to them by children, or criminals wanting to gain access to the roofs of the buildings that had sprang up along its length.

Ray saw more of the mercenaries here, all lords of the city, swaggering along and demanding free food and alcohol from the local traders. Here too the locals showed their dislike for them and here too they were forced to allow mercenaries to steal food from their barrows and shops. There was nothing that anyone could do, not with their swords held ready for use, should anyone be foolish enough to challenge them. In any way, to have challenged them would have brought swift retribution from some of the 400 armed mercenaries that had accompanied Prince Kali and made his rise to power all the easier. They were set there by Barbarossa to deter protests from the population, quantity rather than quality. As for Kali's own Delian troops, they guarded the key points, the radio stations, the newspaper officers, the gates to the palace and the old town of Khardia.

Ray knew the area around the palace, having strolled around the old town on his last visit, this meant that he knew how to enter the palace grounds. So, he moved quickly away from the busy market streets and here, unseen, he came to a tavern that butted up against the walls of the palace grounds. From its roof he would be able to climb up the outer wall of the palace. This was because the palace walls had long needed repair and the area above the tavern provided one with many foot and hand holds, you just had to test them first, or risk falling back down on to the roof of the tavern and alerting the landlord to your intentions. Therefore, Ray entered the tavern and ordered a tall glass of their local ale, then sitting by a flight of stairs that went up to the roof, he slowly sipped his drink. The landlord had looked hard at him, for he did not want any trouble from a hardened criminal, which is how he perceived Ray.

Near to him a local complained about the mercenaries. "Why doesn't the emperor send the Lancers in to the streets, they would soon rout the lot of them, bullies the lot of them, as soon as a squad of Lancers appeared, they would run for the hills."

The man sitting opposite him had heard this before and sighing he explained yet again. "The Maliki starships would soon make their presence felt, a dozen plasma bolts crashing in to the city would kill your bloody Lancers, and us as well, that is why, he is waiting for the Maliki to leave, then he will send in his Lancers."

Ray smiled to himself and wanted to remind them that the Maliki could just as easily return to destroy the cities of Kritania, if they had a mind to do so. The two locals stopped talking to get in some serious drinking time, and as the evening progressed and the tavern filled, the landlord's attention was elsewhere, so Ray downed his drink and slipped up the staircase unseen. This was it, his real chance of success, for he must be standing before Say'd Syn before the day ended, so as to give him the maximum time needed to accomplish his task of escorting the princess to Bhuta and his waiting spaceship.

At the top of the stairs was a window that opened out on to the roof of the tavern, as was the custom, it did not come with a lock, Ray opened it and climbed through it, he was now on the roof of the tavern and was able to survey the outer palace wall. All was in darkness, the moon had hidden itself behind a black cloud and if he was to beat the threatening rain storm, he had to act now. With his route planned, Ray scaled the old wall and was soon at the top of the palace wall, the wall having many hand and foot holds now due to its age, and which towered ten feet above the roof of the tavern. No one was in sight, so he slipped over the top of the wall and on to the walkway, once meant for the palace guards and of course on the inside of the wall. From here, he walked around the walkway until he finally came to an access tower, in it were a flight of steps, he slipped down them and exited through the door at the bottom, the doors within the palace not being locked. After ensuring that the way was clear, he slipped across the yard and entered through a side door in to the palace that he had noticed on his last visit, just as the first raindrops fell.

As with every door and window in the palace, it had been unlocked, for no one would ever attempt to harm Say'd Syn, or so the emperor believed. However, with the anger being generated amongst the poorer people, due to just two of his policies, he might have to begin to lock them, if he still reigned over the planet and was still in residence. However, it was now unlikely that he would reign for much longer, Kali would be the one to order the doors and windows to be locked, and with guards manning the walls, as many of the princes already did in their castles around other parts of Kritania.

Ray made his way up a narrow stone staircase, stopping at the top to ensure that none of the servants were about, he then walked along an equally narrow passage way, occasionally hiding from a passing servant, until he entered a small room. The room allowed the emperor to visit the female servants in their bedrooms, unseen by the guards at the official entrance to the private quarters. Here he stood behind a large curtain that divided the room from the private quarters of Say'd Syn. From the other side of the curtain, Ray could hear the emperor talking to his daughter, then the voice of Anika, the handmaiden of the princess joined in the conversation, they were wondering whether Earth would really send help. It was Say'd Syn who answered this question.

"If Captain Tempest comes to your rescue you Athena, while you are still on Kritania, you must play the part of the handmaiden and Anika, you must play the part of the captain's wife. Neither of you will be able to carry many belongings and what you do carry will have to wrapped up in paper parcels. Athena, we will ask the captain to carry your jewels concealed upon his person, you and Anika will need to sell them to pay your way, if you are to live on Earth for any length of time. They should be well hidden, assuming he come dressed in a coat of some kind."

Ray smiled at Say'd Syn's words, for it was as if the emperor had read from his own script. He pulled the curtain aside and entered the room and on seeing him, Say'd Syn stood up and pulled out a long dagger.

"Who are you and what do you mean by entering my palace?" He demanded.

Meanwhile his daughter was moving towards the door, for she meant to call the guards.

"Please, Your Highness, I am Captain Tempest." Ray said whipping off his eye patch and head scarf.

The three people in the room were stunned by his words, then Say'd Syn saw beneath the stubble on his face and the colour of his skin and he exclaimed.

"By the gods, it is you Captain Tempest, I know that I asked for you to come to the palace secretly, and I confess that your disguise is most excellent, but you did scare me by entering as you are and unannounced."

"I thought it best Your Highness, the fewer people who know that a man from Earth has arrived, the better. But to business, if I am to secretly take Princess Athena to Earth, then we should leave here in the early morning, before the city is awake and Kali's night watch is mostly asleep." Ray then added an afterthought. "In fact, why do you not come as well, why stay behind to wait on an uncertain future?"

"No, Captain, I cannot, my people need me, I might be able to lessen the impact that Kali will cause when he usurps my power." Proving that even an emperor could have a conscience, even if it was hardly ever used.

Ray looked at Say'd Syn and nodded, he understood what the emperor was saying, it was not only his duty, Ray now believed that Say'd Syn actually loved his people. It did not matter that they would stand back and allow the upstart to assume the throne of Kritania. Princess Athena also understood, and she held back her tears, however, she could not hide her feelings and she rushed to him and hugged him to her.

Say'd Syn then asked.

"Tell me Captain, your vessel, it is nearby?"

"It is at the space port at Bhuta, to have landed any nearer would have exposed our plan to rescue the princess." Ray replied.

"Then tell me Captain, how do you plan to get back to your vessel?"

"I came here on the train Your Highness, and I hope to be able to return that way, the station at Khardia Junction did not have any guards. We should be on board my starship by tomorrow afternoon." Ray replied.

"I hope so Captain, however, I have just heard a report that the Maliki fleet is no longer in orbit above Kritania. At least one of their smaller craft has just been seen taking up station above Khardia, and more are probably heading for Bhuta, although that has not been confirmed. If they have in fact returned, then they must be about to force my abdication. When they discover that Athena is no longer within the palace, the Maliki will almost certainly stop all the trains that left Khardia during the morning and search them." Say'd Syn said anxiously. "It all depends on the speed of their reaction, for the warriors under Prince Kali are mostly dullards."

Ray knew that the Maliki had not been orbiting Kritania, they had gone to fight a battle, but he did not correct Say'd Syn, for from what the emperor had said, it now appeared that they may have beaten their enemy and returned earlier than expected. He had not seen or heard a sign of one of their ships, maybe whoever had reported seeing one had been mistaken, Ray hoped so, but he decided not to voice his thoughts, for to raise their hopes only to see them dashed, if they had returned, would not help their moral. So he said.

"If they have returned, Your Highness, if we see their ships or their warriors, then we will leave the train much sooner than planned, and make our way back to Bhuta by whatever means come to hand."

It was obvious to Ray that Say'd Syn was not satisfied, however, when he offered no other suggestions, it was also obvious that his chosen method was the only chance that the princess had of escaping from Prince Kali.

"The presence of your vessel will be noticed, if it has to remain there for any undue length of time, surely Captain?"

"It is an aging freighter, small and easily forgotten Your Highness. In any case, the man who accompanied me is adept at overcoming problems, however, if he is forced to leave, he will not go far. I told him to only sell part of our stock of goods, leaving the rest to sell later, on his return. The goods were our cover to hide our real reason for coming to your fair planet. I left a small communications device buried near to the space port, rather than risk someone finding it on me, should I be searched. If necessary, I will use that to contact him, he can then return with the balance of our goods and while he attempts to sell them, we can slip back aboard. That was supposing the Maliki fleet would not return for another two days, if they have returned, then I will have to make a new plan to overcome that problem."

"Thank you, Captain, given the circumstances here, your plan, or lack of a fixed one, seems to be the only option open to us. If only I had allowed the space port to have been built much nearer to Khardia." Say's Syn lamented and then added.

"One thing is certain though, you will have only hours before they realise that Athena is no longer within the palace, speed will be imperative if you are to escape from the city. I have given the subject of my daughter's disguise much thought Captain, and I feel that Athena and Anika's role should be reversed. Anika can play the part of your wife and Athena can be her servant."

"That should work out just fine Your Highness, and because of the need for haste, we had better begin our preparations."

Ray now turned to the Anika and for a moment he was unable to speak for he realised that she was as pretty as the princess, but in a different way. Being without the expensive clothes and jewellery, and with little make-up, her natural beauty was not hidden, it shone through, if anyone took the trouble to look, which Ray did. Finally finding his voice he said to her.

"Anika, please take Princess Athena to her bathroom and help her to remove any vestige of her perfume and cosmetics, then take her to your quarters and dress her in the clothes becoming a handmaiden. As for you, your attire is fine for the wife of one such as me."

Anika had noticed him looking at her, however, all she did was to nod and then she ushered Princess Athena to the curtain, the one by which Ray had entered saying.

"My Princess, we should travel by the rear staircase, it will be empty now and we will be away from prying eyes." The two women then exited the room, Athena turning to look back at her father with a hesitant smile upon her face before she passed behind the curtain, but she said nothing.

With the two women off to begin their parts in the preparations, Ray asked Say'd Syn a question.

"Your Highness, can you provide me with a length of rope, we will need it to aid our escape when we climb down the outer wall of the old town?"

"Yes, of course Captain, I know where I can lay my hands on a coil of rope."

Say'd Syn left the room for five minutes before returning with a long coil of rope which would prove more than adequate for the task. He then said to Ray.

"Captain, if the Maliki had not involved themselves in the affairs of Kritania, Kali would never have dared to oppose me, even with his new weapons. My people would have torn him apart, him and his warriors, however, with the Maliki space fleet backing him, I cannot oppose him without seeing countless numbers of my people killed, mercilessly. I thought that I should make this clear to you, I and my warriors are not cowards, I am merely practical." He then went on to say. "I now wonder Captain, if my family has been wrong to shun technological advances in weaponry, for your planet would never surrender their future to the Maliki, they would simply have brushed them aside."

"Your planet has enjoyed three centuries of peace, Earth has not. Your people are united under one leader, the people of Earth only recently united behind one government, ruled over by our president." Ray replied.

Ray wanted to add that while the people of Kritania were free of the horrors of war, most of them were not content with their lot. Only the merchant class of Kritania prospered, as for those that worked under them, although solvent, they still did not have any spare cash, and if the need for extra funds did arise, it could, at times, take them too long to accumulate it. Then there was the lowest class of citizen, they worked hardest for the lowest wage, and in the rural areas, they were often unemployed for weeks at a time, and there was no welfare state to fall back upon, no help came from their supposed betters. Without further industrialisation, there were simply not enough jobs for a growing population and no new skills to learn that could propel them out of the gutter. These words went unsaid, it was not his place to lecture the emperor, unasked, it was for the people of Kritania to do so.

Almost two hours' later, the two women returned, Princess Athena was now without a trace of perfume or makeup and dressed in a plain, but colourful sari, but of the poorest of quality. Unseen by the two men, the women also wore pantaloons beneath their saris, so that if the need arose, they could ride the Kritanian horse, the alogo. When Anika saw the quizzical look appear in Ray's eyes, as he took in the clothes that the princess wore, she said.

"I had collected these garments together Captain, I meant to give them to the local women, many of whom are short of funds. However, they will now go a long way to prevent unwelcome attention settling on our party."

Ray smiled and said.

"Yes, as your handmaiden, Princess Athena should be dressed in clothes of a poorer quality to your own, good thinking Anika."

This compliment brought a smile to the handmaiden's face, for she liked being complimented by the handsome alien captain.

As the nearby clock tower rang the half hour before midnight, they enjoyed a last meal together in the family dining room, for as Say'd Syn said, after parting, the chances of them all meeting again were slim. Also, they did not know when they would get the chance to eat their next meal.

They were just finishing their meal as the clock struck midnight, and Say'd Syn spoke. "Tonight, is the night of the winter solstice, all of you, join me in offering a tribute to the gods, we must ask them to see you safe through the coming solstice week and beyond."

They rose from their chairs and followed Say'd Syn to the family temple set just behind the dining room. Here, there was a statue of the deity worshipped by the family plus smaller statuettes of many other minor gods. A small altar stood at the rear of the temple and it was here that Say'd Syn put some leaves that had already been prepared for just this time. Then he lit the offerings, that gave off a scented smoke and he spoke to the family deity asking him to watch over his daughter and her party while they were on their dangerous journey to safety. The room had dimmed as Say'd Syn had praised the deity and then asked for its protection, maybe it had been the smoke, or some other scientific reason, but Ray hoped that it was the deity responding to his host's words. Both the princess and Anika also burnt offerings and asked for the deity's protection over the come days. Ray stood behind them, respectful of another's beliefs as he expected others to respect his own. Two hours' later and Ray decided that the time had come for them to leave and he asked the emperor to assist them.

"We will climb down the wall from your battlements to the tavern below them, it is how I made my entrance in to your palace. Your Highness, will you help us by throwing the rope down to us once we are all safely down, for we will need it if we are to escape over the city walls?"

"Of course, Captain." Say'd Syn replied.

The two women donned their heavy winter coats, as did Ray, who then led the way. Once again, they went through the curtain, but this time they walked down the rear stairs to the courtyard. Here, Say'd Syn first ensured that no one was about, only then did they cross the courtyard and climb up the steps to the battlements. Moments later and they were standing on the section of the wall above the tavern. Ray tied the rope around one of the merlons, the solid pieces of the battlement that went either side of the gaps or crenels, that make up the toothed appearance of the battlement. Then he slipped down the rope, and standing on the roof of the tavern, he held the rope firmly so that Anika could climb down it, who slipped down the rope and was soon standing beside Ray. Then it was Princess Athena's turn.

Tears came to her eyes as she looked at her father for what could be the last time, then she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him before following Ray and Anika down to the rooftop below. Say'd Syn then threw the rope down to Ray and watched tearfully as Ray used his knife to open the window that Ray had used when first procuring entrance to the palace. Moments later, after Athena had waved goodbye to her father, tears now pouring down hr face, they were all standing within the tavern. The tavern was closed now, with its owner asleep, so they silently crept down the flight of stairs and stopped by the door that would allow them to exit the tavern. It was locked with two large bolts, however, it was not locked with a key, so Ray drew back the two bolts and was about to open the door when a belligerent voice at the top of the stairs caused him to stop.

"Put down whatever you have stolen friend, and then tell me why I should not kill you and then have fun with your two females."

Ray turned around, his villainous countenance making the owner of the tavern take a step backwards in fear. "We have stolen nothing my friend, we are just passing through your establishment, if you go back to sleep, I will not take your life, we will just leave your establishment. Okay?"

The man nodded his head and replied. "Goodnight friend, and good luck for the future. Long live Say'd Syn and his daughter."

The man returned to his bedroom and closed the door behind him, he remembered Ray from earlier on. Passing through meant that he had just returned from the palace, he thought that he knew who the two women were, and he really did wish them well.

Ray breathed a sigh of relief, the tavern owner was obviously a patriot, and one with a quick mind. He glanced outside to ensure that the street was empty, and then they slipped out, stopping only to close the door behind them, then they headed off to their next obstacle, the wall that enclosed the old town. Thankfully, the street was lit by gas lights, as were all the main streets, but some of the narrow alley ways were unlit, unless the moon was out, even so, until the coming of the mercenaries, they had been safe to walk along.

As they turned a corner, at the far end of this street, Ray saw three drunken Delian warriors, thankfully the Delians did not see them, however, they were walking towards them. Ray looked about for somewhere to hide and he found it behind him, for as he had stepped backwards an old door had swung slowly open.

"Quick, in here." Ray ordered.

They entered in to a ruin that had once been a shop and Ray quickly closed it behind them and then he pulled out his evil looking knife. Fear sprang on to the faces of the two women as the drunken Delians came ever nearer and even Ray was feeling a little apprehensive, for he might have to take on all three of them, and even though they were drunk it would not be easy. The Delians had by now reached the corner and were arguing about two women, one of the Delians thought her worthy of a night visit while the other two wanted to visit another woman. Anika thought it funny as she listened to them, her fear evaporating for a moment, and she had to put a hand to her mouth the stifle a laugh, especially when the Delians almost came to blows, with one stumbling in to the door. Luckily, Ray had his shoulder against it and the door did not open, otherwise Prince Kali could have lost three of their men, because drunk as they were, and stumbling inside the ruin, they could never have survived an attack, not with Ray having his knife already out and ready for action. Princess Athena though was fearful, in case her escape should come to a quick and sudden end, only her faith in Ray kept her nerves under control. Thankfully, the three Delians moved on and soon their drunken argument faded away, allowing Ray to step back out in to the empty street and seeing it was now empty, he told the two women that it was now safe and they headed off to their next problem.

The old town wall was the next problem that they were heading for, once there they had to find a way over it before the sun rose, for after sunrise, the only way out would be through the gates with guards posted there to ensure that the princess did not escape. Thankfully, the citizens of Khardia had also built their houses and businesses against this wall and Ray had seen a likely route over the wall after he had initially entered the walled city. A large emporium stood against the wall, all they had to do was to enter the building, climb the steps and slip out on its roof, easy. Unfortunately, the windows were barred, and the heavy wooden door was bolted. However, there was an aging metal support, now unused and its original purpose long forgotten, it protruded from the building that stood along the first. Ray would have to tie a slip noose in the rope, then he might be able to lasso the support and haul himself up to the roof of the second building and then haul the two women up. Then, keeping their eyes firmly away from the ground, they might then be able to use the old metal support to clamber in through an open window in the first building and then proceed up to its roof which was level with the top of the city walls. As Ray explain his plan, Princess Athena looked up hesitantly at the metal support and asked.

"Is there no other way Captain?"

"No, I am afraid not, here we are far enough away from the two nearest city gates and Kali's warriors who are guarding them, this is the ideal spot. In any case, the doors to the staircases that lead up to the town wall are locked and forcing one would be noisy and just might bring the guards down around us. Please do not worry Your Highness, you are safe in my hands, I will not let anything happen to you."

Princess Athena smile and said. "I know Captain, I am sorry, please proceed."

With that settled, he had the two women hide in the shadows while he made his lasso and attempted to attach it to the support, however, his aim was off. After watching miss for the fifth time, an impatient Anika took the rope from him.

"Let me try Captain, you are obviously having a bad day."

Smiling, Ray handed the rope to Anika, who gathered the rope in to a coil and then threw the rope up to the sky, her lasso catching on the metal support. Athena immediately came across to congratulate her while Ray looked down the narrow road in case anyone had been woken by their activity. Luckily, no one had been, and Ray now proceeded to climb up the rope and was soon standing on the roof. Now he had to haul the two women up, Athena came up first, followed by Anika, although they were not heavy, hauling two dead weights up was exhausting, so Ray took a two-minute breather before they proceeded with stage two. Now all they had to do was use the support as an imperfect bridge, for of course it did not extend all the way across the gap. Finally, they must enter the first building through the open window, and so gain the roof and exit the walled city of Khardia.

"Your Highness, Anika, if we are careful then we should all be able to accomplish this without anyone being hurt."

Ray then tied one end of the rope around his waist and the other end to one of the chimneys of the building.

"Looking at the two women he said. "Wish me luck."

Athena and Anika smiled and said a quiet prayer as Ray edged slowly along the metal support until he got to its end, then, with no other option open to him, he leapt across the short gap, his feet finding the window ledge, his hands reaching for the partly open window, which then threatened to swing even further open. Time stood still for him as he desperately reached out his other hand to grab hold of an imperfect piece of wooden frame to stop his wayward motion, for otherwise his weight could have pulled the window from its hinges and hurled him down. Maybe he could have ended up suspended twenty feet above the ground, or maybe the chimney would have been broken off and he would have hit the ground, hard. Whispering a thank you to whichever deity had saved him, he hauled himself through the open window and was finally, and safely, standing on the floor of the upper storey of the building. The building was in silence, the room he was standing in was being used as a store room, why the window had been left open Ray could only guess, to air it maybe.

The two women did not seem to notice Ray`s fumble, and now felt more confident in getting across. Ray, looking back at his two charges to see how they had taken his crossing, they seemed to be confident, if a little apprehensive. So, he now loosened the noose that he had made in the rope and slipped it over his head, He now threw it back to Anika, it was her turn next to cross the gap between the two buildings. Anika smiled over at Ray as she slipped the noose made by Ray over her head and then tightened the rope around her own waist and then edged out along the metal support, then she fearfully leapt for the open window. She almost missed it, but Ray was there to grab a hold of her and pull her in to safety. Anika looked at him and gave him a weak smile and then she composed herself and looked back at Athena whose turn it was to cross the gap.

Ray looked across at Athena, she seemed to be fine, she now took the noose off the chimney and slipped it over her shoulders. Ray now slipped his end of the rope around his waist and prepared himself, in case Athena's jump was even worse than his or that of Anika.

"Anika, prepare to help the princess, if her jump goes wrong." Ray said to an anxious handmaiden who said. "Okay, Captain Tempest." As she felt her face flush, for she felt very happy that Ray put so much faith in her abilities, as she was but a mere handmaiden.

Nervously, Athena edged along the support, her pride overcoming her fear. For she did not want to let herself down, or her family, then she too leapt for the open window, however, instead of grasping the window, her hand knocked it away from her and she fell and thudded against the wooden walls of the building. Ray was jerked forward, the rope digging in to his back, but he did not worry about it, he was concerned that someone would come to investigate the noise. So, for a second no one breathed, but there was no reaction to the noise and Ray was already pulling the rope up so Athena was soon back at the window. Anika helped her to scrambled through it and a trembling, Athena said nothing for a moment, then she gave a nervous giggle and collapsed. It took Anika a good five minutes to get her ready for the next part of their escape.

When everyone was ready to proceed, Ray said. "Okay, the hard part is over, now it is time to leave the old town and make good our escape, let`s go."

With that, he led the way out of the store room and up to the roof, here he tied the rope to one of the merlons on the old town wall, and then looked to see if the two women were ready. He then checked to ensure that their way was clear of sentries, it was, so he tied the rope around the waist of Anika.

"Okay, Anika, sit on the wall and slip over the other side of it and I will lower you down, don't worry, I will not let anything happen to you." Ray said.

"I know Captain Tempest." Anika said as she did as Ray had asked and he then lowered her to the ground, where Anika slipped the rope off her body so that Ray could pull it back up.

It was Athena's turn now, who found herself feeling a little jealous that the handsome alien captain was paying so much attention to her handmaiden, however, apart from pouting she said nothing.

"Okay, Your Highness, it is your turn now, just sit on the wall and then slip over the other side, I will lower you down, please do not worry."

Athena was soon standing on the ground and then it was Ray's turn, there was no need to pull up the rope this time, he simply sat on the wall, gripped the rope and slid over to the other side of the wall, and then he climbed down the rope. Finally, all three of them were standing on the other side of the old town wall, Ray smiled and said.

"The rest should be easy, compared to that, if our luck continues to run our way. We need to be well clear of here before the sun rises, especially when they find the rope, so we need to hurry, while keeping a lookout for a possible enemy."

Ray led them through the affluent neighbourhood that was near to the old town, it was here that a local stopped to stare at them, three lower caste individuals walking around at such an early hour and in the more affluent part of the city, made him wonder. However, that is all he did and when they had disappeared from his sight, he went in to his own home with some disparaging remarks about the lower castes and their ways. They were soon through this part of the city and in to the poorer area at the edge of the city, here was where Anika had been born. The princess felt a little fearful as they walked through this neighbourhood, but she kept her fears to herself. Finally, they were in a more rural part of the city, their way taking them along a country lane that would lead them to Khardia Junction.

Chapter Two

Escape from Khardia

Ray and the two women were sitting near to Khardia Junction, tired but happy and relieved to have got so far without incident, maybe their prayers were being answered. They were waiting for the early morning train, the rumours about the early return of the Maliki were obviously wrong, for they had not seen any sign of them. It was now that their day took a turn for the disastrous, for a Maliki ground assault ship chose this second to appear through the dark clouds and land near to the railway station. The pirates quickly disembarked and then it lifted off to take up its station above the railway station. The Maliki space fleet had indeed returned earlier than expected.

Barbarossa had ordered his fleet to send down four of their five innocent looking ground attack ships, three were but converted shuttle craft, each of which had a light plasma cannon fitted to the lower section of their bows, two were larger ships. The cannon was normally hidden within the ship's hull, but when in use, an outer door opened and the cannon was exposed. The small space ships were painted a mottled blue colour on their underside and a mottled green colour on their upper surfaces, to help disguise them from unfriendly eyes. These innocent vessels now hovered over the palace, the old town of Khardia and the main arteries out of the city.

Barbarossa contacted Kali and they decided to call at the palace shortly after the sun rose that morning. Barbarossa also informed Kali that his pirate captains would provide warriors to augment the prince's men, warriors armed with plasma pistols. The warriors normally comprised the boarding parties, these were the pirates' main weapon, used when attacking their usual victims, an unarmed freighter.

One artery that was given more attention than most was the main railway station. Unfortunately, guards were also positioned at the nearby railway stations, to ensure that Say'd Syn did not attempt to smuggle his daughter out of the city at this late juncture in time. This action was thought to be more than possible now that the Maliki spaceships had returned to Kritania to enforce Kali's will.

As Ray looked up at the innocent looking shuttle craft hovering over the train station, and then at the pirates searching the area around the station and questioning the early morning travellers on the platforms, he knew that this escape avenue was now closed to them.

When the princess saw the pirates disembark from the small shuttle craft she almost collapsed in despair. "Then we are lost Captain, for the Maliki have returned, we may as well surrender now, for we shall never be able to journey to Bhuta by train today, or any other day."

"We are not lost Your Highness, merely delayed, I will get you to my starship, never fear, however, it will not be today." Ray replied and immediately a massive feeling of guilt enveloped him, for his friend Jonah would also be trapped on Kritania, and at the very least he could lose his starship.

However, he need not have feared for his friend, not yet, for the Maliki needed traders to come to the planet, if they were to benefit from the plans that Barbarossa had laid out before Prince Kali. His words had cheered both women, and now Ray's mind concentrated on getting them far away from the railway station.

"If either of you have any ideas as to which direction our escape should take, I would be happy to hear them, otherwise, we had better head south-east before they begin to comb the nearby districts for us."

"Captain, my uncle lives nearby in the small village of Chignon, once a month he always travels to the market in the town of Masque, and always on a Budhavara, which of course is today." Budhavara is the Kritanian for Wednesday, their week also having seven days in it.

"It takes him three hours to make the trip, he travels in a covered ox-cart while his son drives the animals that are to be sold. We will be able to meet him at the crossroads that you can just see over the other side of the fields, in fact he is due there any moment now." Anika said.

Ray knew that although this form of travel was exceedingly slow, at least it would take them eight miles further away from Khardia. Which on Earth would seem pitiful, but here on Kritania, and even if they had been able to travel on horseback, eight miles in three hours was reasonable enough on the poor roads that prevailed in the rural areas. Therefore, Ray agreed, and they hurried across the field and met up with Anika's uncle just as they arrived at the crossroads. Anika made the introductions, after a fashion.

"Uncle Taryn, we are in need of your help, my fiancé and I are running away from the palace before Prince Kali arrives to take it for his own palace. His men are animals and if I had stayed then I would surely have been raped. Uncle, please say that we can ride inside your cart so that I am not seen and taken back for questioning, for they seek the princess who even now is fleeing the prince."

Taryn looked down at his niece and then at her supposed fiancé, a villainous looking character that he knew his niece would never take for a husband, and he shook his head.

"Anika, you were taught not to lie by your parents, so why do you lie to your uncle?" Taryn said and then turned to speak to Athena.

"Princess Athena, it would honour me if you would agree to use my humble transport, so as to escape the barbarians."

Athena smiled and said.

"Thank you, my friend, however, the honour will be all mine. Also, under that villainous disguise you will find the brave Captain Tempest, who is escorting me to safety."

Ray nodded as was the custom on Kritania and said.

"Maybe I can help your son move the animals, it would be less conspicuous that way, should someone stop you and look in the wagon. The princess could then feign illness and Anika could be there to nurse her."

"Of course, Captain Tempest, as you say it would be more tenable, however, enough of such talk, we must be on our way to Masque and away from the barbarians."

The journey took them along a track that at times turned to mud, mud that sucked at the feet of both men and beasts alike. Alongside of it were green fields, watered by the early winter rains and looking very healthy. Ray, unused to such exercise, was glad when they made a brief stop to enjoy a hot cup of tea that Taryn prepared over a compact oil stove. As they were finishing it, a mounted troop of cavalry arrived and stopped to question them. They all looked ferocious, with full black beards and moustaches and all carrying long curved swords that they now whipped out from their scabbards and held the swords at shoulder height, ready to swing down and cut off a head. They had never bothered to obey the law restricting such weapons, and the authorities had never bothered to enforce it.

The officer, looking down at them contemptuously, asked. "Who are you and where are you going?"

Taryn blanched, as the officer looked only at him, ignoring the others.

"I am a farmer from the small village of Chignon your honour, I am on my way to the market in the town of Masque. The younger man is my son by my first wife, the other is my bondsman. In the cart is my second wife, she is tending to one of my daughters, also from my previous marriage."

The officer got down and walked over to the cart, pulling the canvas aside he saw a young woman who appeared to be very ill, tending her was another young woman, Anika spoke to the officer.

"Please sir, do not get too near to her, she has a high fever and it might be infectious, we are taking her to the free clinic in Masque."

"If, as you say it is so infectious, why are you tending to her?" The officer asked.

"I believe it is the Feungi fever, I have already suffered from it, so I am immune, however, even I will have to burn my clothes, her germs will be on everything. Cleaning them enough for me to be able to wear, would also turn them in to rags, of that I am certain. As for the cart, it will have to been cleaned with a powerful cleansing liquid, if we are to return to our village in it."

The officer looked at her for a long moment, however, he had not had the dreaded Feungi fever, and he did not want to catch it, so he moved away from the women and climbed back upon his horse. Moments later they galloped away, the officer knew of a man who could clean his clothes, his body and his horse, if he did not delay in questioning wretched peasants and the filth that they carried about with them. Although, to be fair to the officer, the warriors had not yet heard that the princess had fled, so his haste to be away was understandable in one such as he.

When the warriors disappeared over the distant hill, the two women laughed, they had survived their first encounter with the warriors of the Benin Faction, a paramilitary faction who would lend their support to anyone, if the pay was high enough. It seemed that Barbarossa had bought their support with a promise of future riches. Unfortunately, they were not yet done with the Benin Faction, for soon after, Ray noticed that they were being followed by a lone member of their troop.

"They want to ensure that we are going to market, what will happen if they stop me on the way back and find that three of us are missing from our party?" Taryn asked anxiously.

"Tell them that your daughter died and that your wife then became ill so that you were forced to leave her behind at the clinic and that I was also left to see to her needs." Ray replied.

"Yes, of course, my friend who lives in Masque will show them what remains of his wife's funeral pyre, he can tell them, should they come around asking questions, that it is where the bodies of my wife, my daughter and my bondsman were all cremated. Such a tragic event, but at least I have my first wife and the rest of our children." Taryn said wiping a fake tear away from his eye as everyone laughed, but quietly so that the sound did not travel to their mounted escort.

**********

The winter sun had only just risen over the city of Khardia when the shuttle craft carrying Barbarossa and a dozen pirates landed outside of the palace. Here Barbarossa was joined by Prince Kali and together they strode in to the palace, accompanied by the twelve pirates, all armed with plasma pistols and all of them looking very dangerous. They made their way directly to the main reception room and demanded of a servant working there to wake his master.

"Tell him that Prince Kali has arrived to take possession of Kritania and in particular this palace. Quick now, do not keep your new emperor waiting or I will demand your head as a keepsake." Barbarossa threatened viciously.

The servant fled from them screaming. "Master, Master, wake up, the devil himself has demanded that you come and speak to Prince Kali."

His cries of terror faded as he disappeared in to the upper stories of the palace. Barbarossa laughed loudly and then turning to Kali said.

"Rule as I have just demonstrated to you Prince Kali, and you will be feared my friend; however, you will not be loved. This is how I would take possession of this world, otherwise you invite resistance that will then have to be put down violently." Then a twinkle entered the eyes of Barbarossa and he added.

"Who knows, maybe I will tire of space, of my spaceships, maybe I will come calling one day, to demand that you give me your world."

When he saw Kali blanche, if only for a moment, he laughed again and said in a jesting tone.

"Do not worry my friend, there are many parts of this planet, and many such palaces, I would gladly rule with you, maybe in your old palace in the south, the weather there is more to my liking."

Say'd Syn soon arrived, having dressed hurriedly and he asked obsequiously.

"My Lords, what can I get you, food, drink, a dancing girl or two?"

"You can wake my future wife, Say'd Syn, and bring her down here to greet her future husband. Tell her that we will be married this very afternoon, she has until then to prepare herself." Kali ordered.

Say'd Syn duly despatched a servant saying.

"Tell my daughter, Princess Athena, that she must present herself in the throne room to Prince Kali immediately."

Five minutes dragged by and then the servant returned, cringing at the sight of Kali and Barbarossa.

"My Lord, there is no sign of Princess Athena, her bed has not been slept in and her handmaiden is also missing." The servant reported quakingly.

Kali looked in to the eyes of Say'd Syn, who appeared mystified by what he had heard, but Kali did not believe that he was ignorant of the matter. His anger mounting, he said.

"You have spirited her away, well this will not prevent me from becoming the new emperor, your foolish act will only encourage others to take me lightly, and then Say'd Syn, I would have to use violence to bring the people back in to line. Tell me, is this what you want?"

Kali advanced on Say'd Syn, he took hold of his curved sword and swung it at the neck of Say'd Syn. Thankfully, seeing the naked sword warned him and he ducked and then stepped back and said bravely.

"Kill me and a million men will rise up against you. Your pirate allies will not stay here to protect you, they will soon be off about their criminal business. With me alive, as your prisoner, the people will control their anger. If I am dead, not even Barbarossa will be able to keep you alive for one day, even your allies will turn away from you."

Barbarossa walked over to Kali and putting his hand on Kali's sword arm said.

"He is right Prince Kali, imprison him in the highest tower, with your most trusted men to guard him, under orders to slay him if any harm befalls your person, and you will rule for fifty years or more."

"I was not going to kill him, merely throw a scare in to him, although the next time you attempt any such thing Say's Syn, you will not be given the time to duck." Kali threatened. He had now regained control of his anger, turned to his most trusted warrior, Akbar Khan, commander of his army and the husband of Princess Banda, the sister of Prince Kali.

"Do as Barbarossa suggested, my friend, then have the palace searched, and the old city too, she must be in hiding nearby, for our guards were at all of the entrances to the palace and the old city, surely she could not have slipped past them all, not without help."

Akbar Khan hurried from the reception room and gave orders for the palace to be searched for the missing princess and her handmaiden. Then he had the pirates who were assisting them, and who had landed from three of the ground attack ships that hovered over the city, to begin to search the old town. Two hours later and Kali's warriors found the rope hanging from the wall of the old city, Akbar Khan returned to inform Kali of the discovery.

"My Prince, one of our warriors searching outside of the old town has found a rope hanging down the outside of the city wall, they are long gone by now, we will have to extend our search."

Kali was calm now, after sending an evil look in the direction of the tower that held Say'd Syn, he merely said.

"Akbar, have the Grand Vizier report to me, I am about to be crowned emperor."

"Immediately your Royal Highness."

Akbar Khan replied, promoting his prince prematurely, to Kali's delight.

While he waited for the Grand Vizier to arrive, Kali had telegrams despatched to all the nearby towns that possessed a telegraph office, copies were to be posted up around the nearby towns and villages, he also had bulletins broadcast every hour on the radio, the message said.

'Princess Athena and her handmaiden have been kidnapped by criminals. Your new emperor asks you to search for her and kill the criminals involved. When she is found, return the princess to the palace, her lord and master needs her by his side. The finder will be more than adequately rewarded, any who do not do their duty to the best of their abilities, will be punished.'

**********

The town of Masque, was bustling with activity, for it was market day, it was noisy, full of people laughing, shouting, buying, selling, drinking and eating. One cart, pulled by oxen, stopped at the small railway station, a local train was due to leave in ten minutes, heading nowhere important, but it was away for Khardia, and towards the foothills of the White Mountains but further away from Bhuta. It stopped in a small village, after passing others, where Taryn knew of a track that could lead three desperate people down towards Bhuta, if they were not stopped before then. As for the next mainline train, that would mean a three-hour delay, it left after the market closed. Its passengers would leave after completing their business in Masque, they would disembark at one or other of the nearby stops, then it would accelerate towards the south, again away from Bhuta. The next train to Bhuta left during the morning of the next day, meaning a dangerous and impossible wait.

Taryn advised against doing either of those things, for he had a better idea.

"It is far too much of a risk either to delay or to travel south, for as soon as they discover that the princess is missing, they will first search the palace and the old town, then they will search the towns served by the railway, they will be relentless in their search. They will not spend too much time searching to the west, as the jungle makes progress slow and dangerous, for many bandits have made their home there. To the south east is Bhuta, they will search in that direction, for they know that you might see safety in that direction. They will not search the northern road, for it climbs as it heads towards the White Mountains and finally on to the land of ice and snow, soon it will be impassable. Finally, there is the southern route, to the jungle and then the city of Delia, the city that Kali rules over." Taryn explained and then told them of his idea.

"However, I know a way that they will not think of, a local train leaves Masque in ten minutes, it heads north towards the White Mountains, it finally stops in the foothills, at the village of Cresta where my cousin lives. His name is Khatri, ask for him, give him this note, he will show you the best route to take that will not invite an official to take an interest in you." Taryn explained.

"If he can my friend, then we may be able to contact the many supporters that my family has to the south-east of the mountains, there we will be able to find some alternate means of transport that will take us to Bhuta and by a route not currently being watched by the traitor Prince Kali."

"I pray that is so Princess Athena, however, I would advise you to purchase your tickets on the train, or else your enemies will learn as to which direction you took from the man in the ticket office, he has never been trusted by the local people."

Although, following Taryn's advice, it would take them longer to reach the space port of Bhuta, Ray thought the idea would be the safer option, especially if they could find help along the way, and so, he reluctantly agreed and led them over to the local train.

"Thank you, my friend, we shall always have you in our hearts." Athena said as she boarded the old steam train.

"God speed you on your way." Taryn called out as the train slowly pulled out of the station.

Ray, now worried again about his friend Jonah, what with the Maliki space fleet in orbit around the planet, where was he and how was he faring. His own plan was falling apart with the swift return of the Maliki, he would need his wits about him if he was to succeed in keeping the two women safe, let alone to take them to Earth.

The train trundled along the rails, never moving anything but slowly, stopping at many small stations or halts along the way until in the late afternoon it pulled in to the village of Cresta, the last station on this route. Before them, the White Mountains loomed large, snow already on their peaks, here the winter had begun a month earlier, with the foothills just above the village already covered with a light dusting of snow. They got off the train and Ray asked another of the passengers, one who looked to be trustworthy, if he knew where Khatri Palin lived. Their fellow passenger, Roma Malic, knew Khatri Palin and gave them directions.

"Walk for five minutes along the road in front of us until you come to a large wood pile, to the left of the wood pile you will see a small cottage, that is where Khatri Palin lives."

Having thanked the local, they strode off up the road until they came to the cottage, Ray then knocked on the door. It was answered by a small aging man with an inquisitive smile on his face.

"Can I help you sir, are you looking for a guide?" Khatri asked.

"You are Khatri?" Ray asked.

"Yes, my friend, I am he."

"We are not looking for a guide, however, we do need your help." Ray said handing the note that Taryn had given him.

Khatri read the note and then looked at Ray and the two women and said.

"Of course, my friend, please Princess Athena, come in and rest, it is too late to venture down along the trail that Taryn mentioned to you. However, if we set out at first light tomorrow morning, it will see you safely on your way without anyone knowing the route that you have taken."

Khatri was a good friend to them, he provided them with a hot meal, one that Ray found to be quite tasty, he entertained them with stories about himself and Taryn, and finally he gave up his bed to the two women. The next morning, they were woken by their host an hour before the sun rose, he provided them with a large breakfast and when they had eaten, he took them down to the track that would start them on their way to Bhuta.

"I will take you the first mile or so, from then on you must follow the instruction on this map that I drew up last night, it will take you by the safest route to the south east. You will finally come out near to the village of Parnaiba, from then on you must use your own judgement, for I do not know the land beyond Parnaiba."

Khatri gave each of them a staff, saying. "This will help you walk, to keep your balance, for the way is hard and in parts, steep."

With that, they left the small cottage and walked back down through the village, passing to the right of the station, until they came to a spectacular viewpoint, the hills spread out before them, dropping dramatically to the plains that were so far away. Athena and Anika blanched when Khatri indicated the track which they were to follow, however, with no other option, accept to surrender, they forced themselves to follow Khatri. As for Ray, he also thought the way was dangerous, his options being just as limited. In fact, the track was all but invisible to Ray and the two women, being only a slightly less angled part of the slope to the rest of the hillside and was all but invisible against the slope of the steep hill upon which they walked. The narrow track, which normally only the goats used, continued in a downhill direction, Ray and the two women having trouble walking along it, although Khatri did not seem to have any problems at all. Their legs soon began to ache from the constant strain of keeping their balance, their right foot being slightly higher up the slope than their left one. And to fall to their left would see them tumble down the side of the foothill to a rock-strewn gulley far beneath them. However, the staffs did help them to keep their balance, even on the steepest part of the track. Finally, though, the way levelled out and widened slightly and with the strain of keeping their balance gone, they found the strength to continue at a faster pace. Soon though, the going became difficult again, their way took them along a narrow gorge, one cut by the spring thaw through the hard rock of the hills. It was now that Khatri left them, for he had other things that needed his attention.

**********

One day after seizing power, Emperor Kali took over the imperial palace in the city of Khardia, he also had radio broadcasting equipment installed within the palace. On the hour, every hour, he broke in to the regular radio program and he made short broadcast. He demanded that the citizens trace the whereabouts of his bride to be, Princess Athena, and he stated that any citizen that aided her kidnappers would be arrested. He realised that his reign was precarious, as soon as the Maliki departed, without the princess by his side, there would always be a chance of a group of princes moving against him.

The city was in still in turmoil, especially with the return of the Maliki, for the citizens had heard about Emperor Kali, and the way he treated his subjects in Delia, so the citizens feared for their own future. Fearful as to what sort of ruler the new emperor would be, a tyrant, at best, or a sadistic tyrant as some feared. Kali's warriors were searching the nearby buildings in search of the princess and it was here that a man told them of the three people that he had seen in the early morning. At last, Kali thought, we are on their trail, as he ordered the search of all buildings east of where the sighting had occurred.

It was mid-morning in the town of Masque, the people were also fearful for their future, especially when a pirate craft landed near to the railway station. It was under the command of Khan, who had been given the use of one of the ground attack craft to speed his journey around the local area. The first thing he did was to speak to one of the local officials working for the railway, the man who ran the ticket office.

"Generalissimo, I may have seen those who you seek, two women and one man, they boarded the train that travelled up towards the mountain village of Cresta. I noticed them because they did not purchase a ticket from me, I presume that they did so from the guard on the train, and get on the train they did, for I saw them do so. They arrived here with an ox-cart, driven by a farmer who frequents the market, unfortunately, I neither know his name nor where he lives." The official began and the hastily added. "However, neither of the women looked to be of noble birth, both wore clothes that appeared to have been purchased from the poorest of emporiums."

Khan thanked the official and asked after the guard on the train, he found out that the man was actually in the station at that very moment, and when questioned, the guard stated that the three people had left the train at Cresta. Khan then went over an earlier report, one made by a member of the Benin faction, a Captain Rasheed.

'The only travellers we came upon during yesterday morning, and heading away from Khardia, was on the road to Masque. The group consisted of a farmer by the name of Taryn and from the village of Chignon, with him were his wife, daughter, son and his bondsman. Rasheed had added that one of the women had the Feungi fever. They were taking her to the free clinic in Masque.'

A farmer going to market would hardly drag his family along with him, his son maybe, so if he discounted them, only the two women and one man remained, the same number who had arrived on an oxcart and then travelled to Cresta on the train. The fact that one of the women was seriously ill would have meant Rasheed not checking on her, scared that he might go down with the fever. Fool, the woman may well have been the princess. It was a longshot, but something was telling him to investigate it. If, after investigating the lead, it was found that she was the missing princess, Rasheed would be punished for his cowardice, although Khan did realise that at the time, the princess was not officially missing.

The ground attack craft flew in low over the cultivated fields at the approach to the village of Cresta, landing near to the railway station. Its large rear door opened to reveal warriors with their Kritanian horses, the Delian warriors quickly led their mounts out of the evil looking craft and mounted them. Khan now ordered his men to ride around the village of Cresta calling out the same message.

"One man and two women came to this village yesterday, they were strangers, we need to find them because one of the women is thought to be the Princess Athena, she was kidnapped from the palace early yesterday morning. Someone must have seen them, must know something, you have ten minutes to come forward, if no one comes forward in that time, we will assume that the whole village is in on the kidnapping and we will begin to imprison each and every one of you until you tell us all that you know."

Roma Malic came forward just as the minutes was coming to a close, it had taken him that long to build up his courage. Quaking in fear, he told Khan that he had seen and spoken to the three people, they had asked after Khatri, an old mountain guide who knew every trail that there was across the White Mountains. He had reasoned that the life of one spoiled rich brat, such as the princess, was not worth the death of a village. However, Malic had not believed the lie that the princess had been kidnapped, for both women had seemed far too happy when he had seen them, even if he had not realised, then, that one of them was in fact Princess Athena, for her disguise had been perfect.

When Khatri heard the demand called out by Khan's messengers, he knew that he was in trouble, for it stood to reason that someone saw them calling at his house, or had even directed them to it. He went over his options. Should he present himself to the commander of Kali's forces, inform on the princess, no, that went everything that he felt to be right. To refuse to answer any questions put to him would be useless, they would torture him, he had heard about these monsters from a friend of a friend, and he would tell them everything he knew, at some point. To run away might see the other villagers murdered, as was said to be the way that the Delians operated, that only left one option, and as he saw warriors coming to his door, he took it.

The warriors opened the door of Khatri's house and entered to find the old man dead, he had cut his throat with a very sharp knife, now he would not betray the princess, nor the villagers, for he had reasoned that even this devil of a commander would see how pointless that would be, to kill without gain.

Khan was furious, he first had Roma Malic, who just happened to be another of the local guides, to draw a map of the area showing all the trails leading from it. With this in his possession, he returned to the city in the ground attack craft to collect ten more warriors, he had an idea how to narrow down the search. Later that day he arrived at the village of Chignon, near to where Taryn lived with his family, it did not take long to be directed to his house, the threat of a painful death worked wonders on the memories of the locals. Taryn's house was a modest affair, set within a large farm yard, and it was similar to the other small farm houses of Kritania. It comprised of a large front room, a larger kitchen and upstairs, three bedrooms and a bathroom, which had only just been added. It was less than a mile from the village, which could be seen from the back door.

Khan burst in to the house as Taryn was resting after a long day, seeing him, Khan arrested him and everyone else who were inside the farm house. However, he was not a sadistic brute, he decided to give Taryn a chance to live. Taryn knew why the warriors were in his house and so he did not complain, he simply waited for Khan to tell him of his fate.

"Taryn, I do not need much from you, merely some information, give it to me and I will not punish you and your family." Khan threatened. "Tell me where the princess is heading and who the man aiding her is, and I will leave here without harming anyone, for I know that you were only being loyal to your princess. Your family's fate is in your hands, what is it to be, a series of painful deaths or life for all of your family?"

Taryn looked at his wife, his two daughters, his son and his wife and he surrendered, for what else could he do, he believed that the princess would understand, she was not a fool, or a monster.

"The princess is heading for Bhuta, to the space port, for the man is from Earth, he is Captain Ray Tempest. He is taking her back to Earth so that she does not have to marry Emperor Kali, she is very afraid of him and does not want to be his wife."

Khan smiled, yes, he knew that Barbarossa would have then killed the farmer and his family, but Khan believed that when it got about, that to tell all would give your life, more would cooperate, rather than die. However, he knew that the family had to be punished, or many more would attempt to betray Emperor Kali, hoping to be treated leniently if they were found out, for it was amazing how fast the bush telegraph worked on Kritania. And so he turned and spoke to the farmer.

"As punishment for betraying the new emperor, I could have your farm destroyed, at the very least, however, I am not a sadistic brute. Taryn, you have two minutes to take any animals out of your barn, be quick farmer, for the Maliki ship will destroy the barn as soon as it is back in the air. Oh, and be sure to tell your neighbours, the next man to betray their new emperor will not be as lucky as you have been."

Khan then turned and led his warriors back aboard the spaceship. Taryn smiled, for he realised that Khan could have killed them all, but the barn could be rebuilt. He rushed from the house with his family even as the warriors boarded the spaceship, and he moved his precious animals to safety.

The ground attack ship lifted off amid a cloud of dust and a whoosh of air, then it hovered there, its engine emitting a soft whine while the vessel was not in motion. Finally, the commander of the craft sent five screaming energy bolts down, they exploded against the walls of the barn, destroying it and its contents. The massive prolonged explosive made the Taryn family fling their bodies to the ground and pray to their god for their very souls as the air around them was filled with flames and what was left of the barn and its contents.

Khan had not enjoyed destroying the barn, but he pushed it from his mind and asked the commander of the ground attack craft to take him and his warriors back to the village of Cresta. With a copy of a map in his hand, one that Roma Malic had drawn up, he saw the only track that headed in the general direction of Bhuta. Landing back in the village he summoned his cavalry together and sent them after the fugitives, then he asked the commander of the ground attack ship to head for Bhuta, but at the vessel's slowest speed. The commander did one better, he also contacted Barbarossa and gave him a full update on the situation.

Now, although Barbarossa had appeared amused by the whole situation, he knew that if Kali was able to marry the fleeing princess, Kali, would have a much better grip on the planet, which would mean more money coming to Barbarossa. Therefore, he ordered his starship to land at the space port of Bhuta, and for its crew to impound any starships they found there which were from the planet Earth, and to imprison the crews. With her escape route cut off, the princess would have to surrender, he decided, for otherwise, when she was found, as she would be, Kali would beat her until she begged for mercy, or so Barbarossa was led to believe, and probably only after watching her two escorts tortured and finally killed. The reason why Barbarossa was so certain of her eventual capture, was because of the bounty upon her head, coupled with the people's fear of Emperor Kali. This fear had been generated by Say'd Syn's propaganda department, it had been after Kali had begun to talk of fighting the enormous amount of poverty to be found around the planet, but Barbarossa was unaware of this. Barbarossa then ordered messages to be sent to all the towns in possession of a telegraph office, this message to be put up on all notice boards, so that the populace could see how they and their families would be punished, should they choose to aid the princess. The message said that anyone found guilty of aiding the princess would be killed in the old-fashioned way, they would be hanged, drawn and finally quartered.

**********

The day before, as Ray and the two women had been making their escape from Khardia, Jonah Smart noticed the return of the Maliki fleet to Kritania, for his sensors had warned him of their sudden presence. Their presence made him fearful, and he spent the next three hours thinking about the future, of his own safety, his freighter and most of all about Ray.

It was obvious that space flight was impossible for the moment, without being stopped and taxed by the Maliki, for absolutely nothing in return, apart from be allowed to continue. For he would not be able to outrun their starships, or outfire them, as his vessel did not possess a plasma cannon. However, to stay at the space port could mean being impounded, especially if they traced the missing princess to Ray. So, maybe he should lift off and hide on one of the uninhabited islands he knew lay far away in the nearby ocean. He should be able to do this unobserved, the space fleet would have its sensors pointed away from the planet, looking for dangers coming from space, such as the Brotherhood, the space fleet of Mazere or even Earth. Jonah decided to carry out his plan just as the sun rose the next morning, Ray would still be able to contact him, just as long as he, Jonah, did not run and hide too far away. As the sun set and the moon rose over the eastern horizon, and Ray had still not returned, Jonah knew that the early return of the Maliki had interfered with Ray's plan. Therefore, he decided to head for the local ale house, which for once was not busy, so Jonah spoke to the landlord. For he spoke a smattering of the local language, having picked it up on his past trading trips to the planet, he wanted to listen to the latest gossip, of which usually there was plenty. The alien crews drank there, as too did many of the locals, and it was normally alive with gossip, however, he was now the only alien in the tavern, there being no other starships at the space port.

"A tankard of your best brew Rohar, I have a raging thirst that I need quenching."

Some of what he said was in English, thankfully, thanks to the many English-speaking crews visiting the ale house, Rohar knew roughly what he had said, having picked up some of the language from them. And after Jonah had taken an initial, but large, draft of his drink, he asked Rohar.

"So, tell me, what's new Rohar, my ship's sensors noticed what looked like a fleet of starships go in to orbit above your planet this morning, there is nothing for me to be worried about, is there?"

"The Maliki are probably moving around out there my friend, surely you noticed them when you arrived, why do you think the other alien vessels left so suddenly, they flew before the Maliki impounded their vessels. I was surprised when you decided to hang around." Rohar said, not knowing that the Maliki had only just returned after fighting a battle against the Brotherhood.

"As a stranger, an alien, you may be unaware that they are here to ensure that Princess Athena marries Emperor Kali of Delia, unfortunately for the prince, the princess has fled the palace with her handmaiden. She probably heard how violent he has been to his former women, anyway, if the marriage does not take place, it will make his ascension to the throne less than ideal, the locals could well revolt the moment the Maliki depart, which seeing as they are pirates, could be very soon." Rohar then added.

"Kali has already threatened severe retribution against anyone who aids the princess, so, she will probably be back at the palace quite soon, for no one is going to risk a painful death for a spoilt rich brat who is leaving her father to face the music. Personally, I will be glad to see the back of Say'd Syn, as will many of the poorer of our people, for only then will we all be able to benefit from an increase in trade with you aliens."

Jonah downed the rest of his drink and left soon after the ale house began to fill up with locals, in any case, the landlord had moved away to serve his other customers. On the way back to his freighter, Jonah thought about what the landlord had said. It seemed that Ray's friend, the present emperor, was not too popular with the masses, could he, Jonah, be backing the wrong side. No, he replied to his own question, the young princess should not be forced in to a marriage with a bully who would soon become the tyrant of Kritania. On entering the freighter, Jonah looked to see if Ray had returned while he had been at the ale house, but of course he had not.

Early the next morning, which was when Ray and the two women were starting out on the difficult trail with their new friend Khatri, Jonah looked out at the space port, and he realised the terrible price that the country had paid for shunning technology. For now, they were subjugated by the Maliki with no options open to them which would not involve death and destruction. They could have been enjoying a level of technology similar to that of Earth, but after the terrible world-wide wars of three hundred years ago, the population had chosen peace over the dubious benefits of technology. Up until recently this decision had paid off, for the planet was one of the most peaceful in the known galaxy, however, now they were paying the price for it. The present leaders of Kritania, soon to be replaced by a new set from the city of Delia, would now be praying for an intervention from the alien planets. Why, to return them to their state of, well not bliss, for most of the population struggled to make a living, but at least one free of the serfdom said to be on offer by Emperor Kali, and safe from the horrors of war.

It was now that Jonah walked along to the small bridge on his freighter and after warming up the engine and other systems, he lifted off from the space port, which was situated close to the larger of the oceans on the planet. He was soon flying across the ocean and two hours later had arrived at a point 1000 miles away from the space port. A small unnamed island without fresh water or food, little more than a large sand bank with some palm trees, here he set the freighter down, that he had not been seen was soon obvious, because, no one arrived to escort him back to the mainland for interrogation.

**********

It was noon and they were passing through farming country, having travelled just ten foot sore miles. Ray realised that they were in need of transport, if they were to get to Bhuta before their ride off the planet was forced to move on. It was just then that Ray saw a small hamlet at the bottom of the hill they were traversing, he hoped to be able to purchase a horse and a cart there, anything to speed up their escape. It was now that Ray looked in wonder, his first thought was that it was a mirage, for he saw a truck stop at one of the houses. If they could get a lift on it to the railway, then they could get to Bhuta the next day at the latest. But the Fates were not with them, they were merely taunting them. For even as he dreamed of being back aboard the Aldebra, though in reality he knew that this feat was quite impossible, what with the return of the Maliki, he heard the sound of a ground attack ship approaching their position. Moments later he saw it, flying just 100 feet above the ground and coming their way at a rate of knots. Thankfully, they were near to a small byre where the farmer kept his sheep in times of bad weather, and also thankfully, the ship was still half a mile away from them, so he hurried the two women inside the byre, to hide away from the vessel, praying that they had not been seen. He almost regretted it, because of the terrible smell, however, even this was preferable to being caught by the warriors of Emperor Kali. They now waited to see if the craft flew on or hovered over their position, meaning that they were indeed in trouble.

**********

The warriors of Prince Kali, now Emperor Kali, had to lead their mounts along the trail that the fugitives had fled along, the steepness of the hill allowing nothing else and they too had difficulty in navigating it. Even after they entered the gorge, the going had been slow, due to the wild state of the trail. After many foot slogging miles, and many complaints to their officer, they finally reached cultivated land and the warriors could mount their steeds and ride off in pursuit, their complaints had stopped, now that at last they stood a chance of overhauling the fugitives.

The ground attack craft had stopped off at the small farm that the three fugitives had been looking down upon, they had questioned the occupants and their workers and searched all of the buildings. Finding that the fugitives were not there, they had boarded their vessel and moved off to continue their search.

**********

When finally, the ground attack vessel moved slowly over the far horizon, they exited the byre and hurried down the hill, unfortunately the truck had gone, however, Ray had hopes of obtaining some mode of transport at the farm, with this aim, Ray asked.

"Princess Athena, do you recognise the farm below us, does it belong to one of your supporters?"

"No, I do not recognise it Captain, however, many of the land owners in those part of Kritania do support the policy of a slow but gradual increase in the level of our planet's advancement, so that we, as a people, are ready for it, both spiritually and mentally."

Ray wanted to say that the gradual increase practiced by her father needed to speed up, or her people would eventually rebel, no matter who ruled over them, however, once again he kept such thoughts to himself. Instead he said.

"Then the question is, do we seek help at this farm, or walk on until we find one whom you know to be a loyal supporter of your family."

"Both Anika and I are exhausted Captain, I think that we should take a chance on the farmer being one of our supporters, otherwise, we might be more in danger, with a winter's night approaching, of succumbing to the elements." Princess Athena replied.

So, they carried on downhill, towards the hoped-for safety of the farm, and they reached it after a ten minutes hard slog and they only stopped when they had reached the gate that led in to the farm yard. The front door opened, and a large thickset man came out of the house, he was well dressed and affluent looking, he strode over to them and welcomed them with wide spread arms saying.

"My Princess," he gushed, "I am Ryslin Tonkin, and I am your humble servant. I will do anything to assist you to escape from the vile clutches of Emperor Kali. I beg of you to stay here tonight, and in the morning, I will take you to Prangi station which you will be glad to hear is free of Kali's warriors. The train leaves for Bhuta at eight in the morning, from where you will be able to catch a train to many other towns. If we leave my humble dwelling at six, we will arrive at Prangi ten minutes before the train is due, it will be safer than getting there too early. The warriors of that monster Emperor Kali are everywhere, and many precautions must be made to ensure that you are not seen by them." He then added. "But you must come inside, please, I will have food prepared for you and a room for you to rest in, quickly now, before another patrol comes this way."

The man now ushered them all in to his house, although he stared hard at Ray, seeing just a hardened criminal and wondering why he was in the company of the princess.

Princess Athena, who was exhausted by all she had been through since leaving her father's palace, obeyed Tonkin, and on entering the house sank down in to an armchair. Anika followed after her, as it was her duty to do, however, although she too was tired, she seemed ill at ease with their host. As for Ray, he knew that for the moment he must go with the flow, but trust the man, no way, not until he had earned it. In any case, if he was going to rat on them to Emperor Kali, he was more likely to do it if they decided to refuse his hospitality. A maid was summoned and told to have the chef prepare dinner early and that his three guests would be joining him. The maid rushed off after wondering about the guests, who did not seem to be of the rank normally invited to sit at her master's table, especially Ray whose looks made her frightened for her life.

Tonkin then poured drinks for everyone, a fine aperitif, and while Tonkin made them up, Ray kept an eye on the glasses, to ensure that a sleeping draught was not added to them.

"Please excuse me for a moment your Royal Highness, I just want to ensure that the preparations are indeed in hand for our meal, I will not be a moment." Tonkin said and then turned and left the room.

Ray bolted across the room, much to the surprise of the two women, and slipped through the door recently used by Tonkin. He was in time to see the man's disappearing back. Tonkin walked quickly through a door that led to the rear of the farm yard and quietly called to his lead hand.

"Send a rider to the nearest telegraph office, have him send a telegram to the Emperor Kali at the palace. He is to tell him that the princess is here. Then arm yourself, and five of your fellows, I want three of you to hide yourselves in the North tower and the others in the solar room. The three of you who go to the solar room, please explain to my family what is happening and ask them to keep quiet until this matter is settled. All of you must ensure that you are all ready to come to my aid, should the princess and her two servants attempt to leave." Tonkin instructed.

The man hurried off to comply with his master's request while Tonkin returned to his guests, he entered the room to see the two women talking together, but it took him a moment to realise that Ray was not with them. The next moment he felt the cold blade of a knife at his throat and he stiffened in fear, then Ray changed his plans and brought the heavy hilt of the knife down on Tonkin's head. Tonkin slumped to the ground unconscious.

"Quick!" Ray said to the two women. "He has sent one of his workers to send a telegram to Emperor Kali. It will tell him that we are here, and he has also ordered six of his men to be ready to burst in here to stop us escaping, should he call out to them. Tell me, can you both ride an alogo, we must get away from here before one of the pirate craft responds to the telegram.

"Yes, of course we can ride Captain." Athena replied.

"Good, then follow me, we are going to the stables to see if our host has three horses there, we must be mounted and away from here before our host's men realise that we are leaving without saying goodbye."

They slipped silently out of the front door even as Tonkin's six men took their places within the house. Luck was with them, for with none of the farm hands now outside in the farm yard, they were able to get to the stables unopposed. Inside they found just three horses, and while Athena and Anika quickly saddled their horses, Ray kept a watch. When the three horses were saddled, they opened the stable door and led their mounts out and along the lane, only when they were sufficiently far enough away from the farm, did they mount them and ride quickly along the rough track that would take them towards the east part of the Kritanian land mass.

Chapter Three

Flight

With speed of the essence, the three fugitives pushed their mounts for the first two minutes before dropping down to a canter, so as to not exhaust their mounts and finally to a trot which they maintained for most of their flight. The two women were excellent riders; however, Ray had only ridden a few times before, and so needed all his concentration to simply stay upon his mount. The road, or dirt track really, consisted of gravel pounded down to make a hard surface, however, it was in good condition, although it had rained here, during the night, so there were puddles to ride through which splashed water upon their clothing. They passed a few small farm houses along the way, but did not stop as they wanted to get far away from their pursuers, who would soon be on their trail. The road was lined with hedgerows, much like early to mid-20th century England, intermingled with farm gates that led in to fields, some empty, having been recently harvested and some full of some sort of winter crop. After two hours, they finally came to section of the road that Athena remembered.

"Captain, we are near to a family friend, if we take the next right, we should be able to find shelter for the night.

**********

It took the messenger sent by Tolkien two hours to reach the telegraph office and a further ten minutes for the telegram to reach Kali who despatched Khan in pursuit. Khan, his hopes of swiftly concluding the chase, hurriedly returned to the farmhouse, arriving there a further twenty minutes after that. Landing in the fields close to the farmhouse, Khan sent half of his men to the rear of the house while he led ten men in through the front door. Here he found Tonkin nursing a very sore head.

"I am sorry Commander, the man must have suspected something, he hit me as I returned to the room after sending my messenger away to contact you. Then the fools who I had charged with waiting to take them prisoner, if the princess attempted to escape, fell down on the job, they allowed the princess and her two escorts to escape by stealing our remaining mounts, which is why I could not give chase. Please forgive our incompetence." Tonkin pleaded fearing the worst.

Khan swore but did nothing else, for the moment, he had Tonkin give him a description of Ray and then he ordered his men back aboard the ground attack craft. He ordered the pilot to head eastwards for eight miles at speed and then to proceed on at his slowest speed possible.

**********

The Lancers of Kritania were not happy with the change of rulers, and they wanted to act, but until the Maliki finally left Kritania to return to the vastness of space they could do nothing. If then, the princess had still not married Prince Kali, as many still referred to him, that or by an assortment of extremely rude adjectives and nouns, they were prepared to launch a counter-coup. The eight officers of the Lancers, as well as a number of their platoon leaders, were talking about this subject within the house of General Chandra, commander-in-chief of the Lancers.

"As soon as the Maliki leave, Kali will look very weak to everyone on Kritania, then we must strike. Armed with cross bows, we must take out his warriors when most of them are off duty, during the late evening when they are either drinking or wenching. While this is being done, I will lead a platoon of our best men, my task will be two-fold; first I will guard Say'd Syn from any attempts by the dullard Emperor Kali to use him, or kill him. My second task will be to take out the sentries, both within the palace itself and any that Kali may have posted along the palace walls and at the gates to the palace." Chandra stopped for a moment to take any questions, but as no one voiced any he continued.

"Okay, in the meantime, we need to find Princess Athena, so that we can assist her in evading Kali and his pirate friends. Come the morning, we will send out our own patrols, we are two days behind her so we need to start our search at least forty miles away from the palace. We must ride to stations that are not under guard by the pirates and load our mounts on to any empty freight wagons, in this way we should be able to start our searches nearer to wherever Princess Athena is in hiding."

With no one challenging his plans, the meeting broke up, all anxiously waiting for the departure of the Maliki, who as yet had shown no desire to leave the planet, for they were enjoying their R & R.

**********

Ahead of Ray and the two women was an affluent looking manor house, it was the home of Kareem Iyer, a long-time friend of the royal family and one certain to offer them sanctuary, according to Athena. The sun had set just minutes before they rode through the heavy metal gates, they stopped in front of the front door to the manor house. It was Iyer himself who came to enquire who was calling, not, as Athena had expected, one of the servants. On seeing him, Athena called to him, in soft tones so that no one else could hear, in case an enemy was nearby.

"Kareem, it is Athena, we are in need of food and shelter, and if you agree, your help. Can we count upon you or should we look elsewhere?"

"Athena, I wondered if it might be you, of course you can come in to our house, your escort can take care of your mounts." Iyer said by way of a greeting and then turning to Ray ordered. "Take the aloga around to the stables and see to them. When you have done that, see the chef, she will provide you with a meal."

Ray laughed as he unmounted, glad to be off the beast as his butt hurt, being unused to so much riding. Looking Iyer straight in the eye he said.

"My Iyer, where Princess Athena goes so do we, so please ask your people to see to our mounts, for until I am certain that you are a true friend, I am not letting her Highness out of my sight. I promised Say'd Syn to protect her and that is what I intend to do."

Athena quickly got between the two men before Iyer attempted to attack Ray for speaking to him in such a way and she said.

"Kareem, they are not my servants, they are my friends, it is only because of Captain Tempest and Anika that I have got this far. We were almost taken prisoner when Tonkin, one of your neighbours, betrayed us, only quick thinking on the part of Captain Tempest saved us."

Kareem turned to Athena and bowed. "If it is your wish Athena, then I will treat them as my honoured guests." Then turning to Ray, and seeing a warrior and not a groom, he said. "Captain Tempest, I apologise, please enter my home, you will find that here at least, you are all safe."

Ray nodded and smiled and then said. "In that case, Mr Iyer, perhaps you should be prepared to find a room in which you can hide us at short notice, for Tonkin sent a messenger to the nearest telegraph office, his message told Emperor Kali that we were his prisoners. The Maliki will be on our trail by now, one of their attack craft could soon be landing in front of your gates."

Iyer nodded and once inside the large entrance hall of the manor house he called out. "Roge, Rangid!"

Moments later and a well-built man came in to the room followed by a shorter and much older man. The first man asked. "You called for us Sir?"

"Yes, Roge, have the three horses that my guests rode in upon released in to the top field with the other horses, have their saddles, bridles and the such taken off them and buried beneath that large pile of manure in the corner of the field. Quickly now for we might have the Maliki calling upon us soon, ensure that they find nothing to lead them to our guests. When that is taken care of, come back here, I might need you again."

"Immediately, Sir." The man said and turned away and hurried from the room.

"Rangid, have the old safe room in the cellar prepared for three people, they will need warm bedding, hot water bottles to help keep out the cold, plus food and water, but no heating, I would not want the princess to be found because of a warm wall. Please ensure that your preparations go unnoticed by anyone, and that there is nothing to show that the room exists at all."

"Yes, Sir." Rangid said bowing and turning away to see to his duties.

Iyer then opened one of the doors that led off the entrance hall and beckoned them in to the Great Hall which the family used when resting or entertaining company. Inside, were his family and a young woman, another of their servants. Iyer now introduced them to his family.

"Everyone, you know Princess Athena and her handmaiden of course, the gentleman is Captain Tempest, he is taking Athena to safety, to Earth I expect. Is that correct Captain?"

"It was to be our destination Mr Iyer, before the Maliki returned earlier than anticipated. I will have to contact my starship to find out where they are, for I expect to find that they too are in hiding, waiting to hear from me."

"Yes of course, Captain, a very sad time for our peaceful planet." Iyer now introduced his family to Ray, who had taken off his gaudy headscarf and eye patch, to reveal a working eye and smiled. An amused Iyer said. "This is my mother, my sister Sharika and my younger brother Hari."

Iyer then turned to the young female servant and said. "Tyisha, please ask the cook to prepare sandwiches for our three guests, and many of them."

Tyisha curtsied and hurried from the room as Iyer said to Athena. "I am sorry that we cannot treat you to a better meal Athena, or a glass of wine. But if the Maliki do come calling, then it might be awkward, you would have to leave your meals half eaten, your glasses of wine half drunk, while you rush down to the cellar. No, it will be better if you just have sandwiches, which you can take with you, if the need arises. I will see that Rangid leaves two bottles of a light table wine in the safe room for you to drink, together with three glasses and some snacks."

The sandwiches had just been delivered when Misha, a house servant, rushed in. Misha had been posted outside to keep watch, and it had been just moments before that his keen eyes had noticed the black ground attack craft pass in front of one of the farm buildings that were set upon the hill that ran behind the manor house. It was as silent as the grave and landed with just a soft whoosh of air being pushed out by its vertical thrusters.

"They are here Master; the Maliki have come!" Misha cried out in distress.

"Thank you, Misha, you can go to your room now, there is nothing to fear." Iyer ordered before turning to Rangid.

"Rangid, show our guests to their sleeping quarters, please ensure that no trace of their presence is left outside of the old safe room."

"Of course, Sir." Rangid replied and then he said to the three fugitives. "Please follow me Princess Athena, Captain Tempest, Anika, we should hurry as I can hear the Maliki coming across the yard."

Picking up the plates of sandwiches, and their own plates, Ray followed Rangid down in to the cellar with the two women close on his heels. The door to the old safe room was already open and after ushering them in to it, Rangid quickly closed the door. He then checked the area in front of the door to ensure that no trace of its use was left on the floor and that there was no trace of it being a door, just an empty, but rather dusty, wine rack. With that attended to, he got a brush and brushed dust all over this section of the floor, covering all of the footprints left by the fugitives. A moment later, after taking a deep breathe, he hurried back up the old wooden staircase to see if his master required anything else of him.

The safe room comprised of a sleeping area, that all three would have to share, and a small room with a toilet and a washbasin, both of these items were new, having only been installed that year. Iyer had foreseen trouble approaching for Kritania, although he had not realised that it would be the Maliki who were the primary cause. Three cots had been set up in the sleeping area by Rashid, this he had done just ten minutes prior to their entering the room. A small table with three chairs had been squeezed in, upon which two bottles of wine, three glasses and a plate of snacks had been set, they would not go hungry tonight.

In the Great Hall, there was nothing to suggest that the family had been entertaining any guests, and Rangid entered it from a side corridor seconds before Khan and his warriors thrust their way in to the house and on in to the Great Hall.

"Iyer Kareem, in case you have not heard, we are seeking the kidnappers of Princess Athena, she was taken from the palace early yesterday morning. The new emperor, formerly Prince Kali of Delia, has decreed that any who give aid to the kidnappers, or who fail to reveal the whereabouts of the princess, will be executed as traitors in the old-fashioned way. Any who aid us will be rewarded as becomes their current status. He has had this poster put up in all the cities, towns and villages." Khan said waving the poster about. "Someone is sure to be tempted, so any who dare to even think of helping the kidnappers had better realise that this traitorous act will almost certainly come to our ears." Khan said handing over the poster and then he asked. "Now tell me, have two women and a man called here asking for assistance, or maybe they rode on by during the last two hours, well Iyer, and take care, for afterwards, we will also question your family and your servants?"

"I do not take kindly to being insulted within the walls of my home, Commander Khan, so please understand me, it is you who should take care, for I will demand the right to full satisfaction, as allowed under the law, if you continue to speak to me in such a fashion." Iyer replied angrily, referring the right to fight a duel, to the death, if one was grossly insulted and a full apology was not immediately received. "As to your question, no, I have not seen two women and a man ride by my home, nor have I had any new guests arrive over the last two hours." Iyer stated firmly before adding. "As for your threat to question my family and our servants, go ahead Khan, I have nothing to hide, for I do not provide aid to criminals, of any persuasion." Iyer said looking Khan directly in the eye to see if his subtle barb went home.

It had, for Khan looked uncomfortable, but only for a second, no longer, for Khan was not interested in the jibes that the landed gentry sent his way, for while he was a rapidly rising star, any who got in his way would rapidly fall down to earth.

Khan turned to his warriors. "Question all of the servants here, both the house servants and those who work outside. Find out what they know of the whereabouts of the princess, when you are done report back to me." Khan ordered.

Khan looked at those in the Great Hall and sneered. "If any of you have anything to say, do so now, because when the truth comes out, it will be too late then for any who betray the emperor."

Not one of the family, nor the servants who were in the Great Hall, replied, a heavy silence hung there. As for the servants, here or elsewhere, the family had always treated them well and in any case, they were all loyal to the princess and her father. They were not part of the many who lived in poverty, they were well fed, housed and tended when ill.

Khan did not know whether the family had come to the aid of the princess, and as time was pressing, he left, taking his men with him to continue the search further afield.

Iyer said nothing for a moment, then he let out a big sigh and turned to his family and said. "I was scared there for a moment, scared that they would stay a while longer and try torturing one of us, or the servants, but no, they really did not believe that we were harbouring the princess, they were just going through the motions."

His mother looked up at him and Iyer could see real fear in her eyes. "Kareem, they will put us on a list and when they cannot find the princess, they will return here. Then, they will try to find her by torturing Rangid, Roge or the other servants. They may even torture people who you care deeply about Kareem, me, Hari, or Sharika. Kareem, the princess must leave here tomorrow morning, before more of the servants learn that the princess is staying here and they are lured by the promise of the reward. Tell her to go, please."

"Mother, we cannot let these monsters dictate to us, we must resist them." Iyer argued.

"No, Kareem, the princess must go, and she can take the earthman with her, let him look out for her, as he said he promised Say'd Syn. I do not want to see you, or Hari, hanged, drawn and quartered, or Sharika sent to a brothel. I have heard that Kali has done that to women in Delia, sisters, daughters or wives of those who have resisted him."

"All right mother, I will tell them in the morning, after they have had a good breakfast."

Hari and Sharika had not said anything, however, when Iyer looked at them, he saw relief upon their faces, not anger at his betrayal of all that he felt to be right. And what of him, did he not feel a slight relief now that this cowardly act had been agreed by all. He turned away from his family, lest they see the disgust he felt for all of them, including himself. He walked over to the drinks able and poured himself a large stiff drink, he needed it to blot out the last few minutes.

**********

What had occurred outside of their safe room, Ray or the two women did not know, in fact, they were left in limbo, left to sleep in their secure room. They had heard the ground attack craft lift off and move away; and expected to be given the all clear to return to the Great Hall. However, all that happened was that Iyer partly opened the door and told them that they had better remain where they were until the morning, just in case. Given time to think about their hectic flight from Khardia, the fugitives wondered how Khan had got on their trail so soon.

"I can only assume that they must have discovered our ultimate destination, for them to be able to get on our trail." Ray said.

"But they could only do that if someone had betrayed us, why would they do such a thing?" Athena cried out incredulously.

"For money maybe, or to save the lives of people they loved, their family perhaps, or maybe they were tortured and so had no choice but to reveal all they knew." Anika suggested. "It really is no great surprise that they would sink so low, seeing as how they are such vile creatures."

Anika was repeating the gossip that she had heard as she walked about the old town of Khardia, it had been while out shopping for her mistress.

"Tortured, because of me, how terrible!" Athena exclaimed aghast at the mere thought of such a thing occurring.

"They probably would have had no need to actually torture anyone, the mere threat of doing so, to a loved one, would result in Kali and his thugs getting the information they wanted and more." Ray said in an effort to soothe Athena.

Had Athena known about the death of Khatri, she would probably have broken down and wept, as Anika would also have done. One by one they fell asleep, still fully dressed as they did not have any night attire to change in to and feeling grubby from their long walk and subsequent ride. They were woken only by Rangid bringing them their breakfast, which they ate at the small table. One hour later and Iyer came down and opened the secret door, he looked bright and clean, having washed and dressed in a set of clean clothes, something they noticed as they felt so grubby.

Iyer did not seem to notice their condition, maybe because he felt guilty at what he was about to do. He edged forward and gingerly handed over the poster that Khan had left with him. When they had all read it, and then looked up at him quizzically, he said.

"Your Highness, I am awfully sorry to have to ask this of you, but you must all leave, this morning, your very presence here is a danger to my family and servants. If it was just me, I would say to hell with Commander Khan, but it is not, is it?" He explained. "The appearance of Commander Khan and his warriors last night, well it made my family fearful for their future and of betrayal, I am sorry, but you will have to go."

Athena looked him in the eyes for a long moment before replying. "Please do not concern yourself Kareem, it is probably why those monsters got on our trail so soon. And of course, your family must come first, please have our horses saddled, and maybe a little food and water provided to see us through the day, and we will leave."

Ray and Anika also understood, so they did not complain or add anything, they used the facilities and washed, as much as the limited facilities offered. Ray took the opportunity to wash off his villainous disguise, leaving him with just the stain on his face. He even left off the eye patch and the head scarf, for the enemy had by now been told of these by Tonkin, he disposed of them later in the fire that warmed the Great Hall. All that was left for them to do was to wait for Iyer to return to the safe room, and to tell them that all was ready, which he soon did. His family were nowhere in sight, too embarrassed to make an appearance. They shook hands with Iyer and walked out of the manor house to find their mounts ready, with saddle bags full of food and water bottles hanging from the saddles.

Ray took the lead, they rode out on the horses that they had arrived on, although using new saddles and tack, the original sets having been buried beneath a ton of manure soon after their arrival at the house. They rode along the road that would eventually take them to Bhuta, however, once they were out of sight of the manor house, they looked for a trail that would take them towards the north east. They soon found one, a narrower and rougher trail, however, it reduced their speed, for otherwise, their mounts would surely injure themselves and their riders. They were now travelling away from Bhuta, they aimed to turn towards the south and Bhuta later, much later, when they were all but due north of the space port. In this way they hoped to throw off their pursuers, however, they would still be in need of places to stop over, to sleep, and eat, for the nights were cold, what with winter approaching and even faster here in northern latitudes. Ray could see that this need raised other problems, whoever they asked for help, they would also need to weigh the risks to themselves, just as the family of Iyer had done, just before they asked Princess Athena to leave. They too would have to harden their own hearts, for else how could they in all conscience ask anyone for help, knowing of the dangers that they were asking others to accept on their behalf. Ray decided that there was no way that he would endanger their friends without having first warned them of the possible consequences.

Ray`s thoughts turned to Jonah Smart, he felt, correctly, that Jonah would have lifted off and taken the starship out to sea. If this was so, when their enemy found no trace of a waiting starship, would they assume that the fugitives were travelling elsewhere and not Bhuta? Whatever their enemy thought, Ray needed to recover his communicator, as Kritania did not possess the technology to contact a starship, that being so, they would have to stop off at Bhuta, but it would be on the way to somewhere else, but as to where, Ray could not even hazard a guess.

They had just arrived at a crossroads when Athena intruded on Ray's thoughts, it was while they were walking their mounts, as to push them too hard could see their mounts becoming lame or exhausted.

"Time is on the side of evil today Captain, we either surrender to it or we fight, even though innocents may be put in danger. Captain, if we surrender, or if I am caught, I will be forced to marry Emperor Kali, then his position will become unassailable, something that I cannot allow. He is evil Captain, the people in Delia will testify to that, if asked. As long as I am free, then the possibility of removing him exists."

"If you feel that way Your Highness, how can you leave Kritania, for you cannot lead a revolution from Earth, the distance is just too great."

"Captain, ever since we found out that the Maliki had returned earlier than expected, that question has bothered me, however, if I am to stay and lead a revolution, I will need people to advise me, and others to lead the fight, one special man to be my general while I attend to the task of attracting more citizens to my army." She replied and then added. "I was hoping that this journey, and the people whom we meet, would show whether this was possible, or not."

Athena stopped here and looked around her, then she said. "Captain, an old friend of my family lives only ten miles from here, I believe that it is to the north east, along that track on our left. He will put us up for the night, I know he will, I believe that we have to accept the danger that we are putting his house in, if only to help me to come up with an answer to my question."

Ray looked at Athena for a long moment before he replied. "Okay, Your Highness..." It was here that Athena interrupted him. Captain, please call me Athena, and I will call you Ray, we have been through so much in the short time since you have returned to Kritania, so surely we can be on a first name basis."

"You are correct, Athena, and in answer to your statement, I agree that we should head for your friend's house, but we should explain the risks to him, and before we enter his house, or we would be as evil as Emperor Kali is portrayed to be. There is something you should bear in mind Athena, which is, how can you come up with the correct answer to your question otherwise?"

Athena did not reply immediately, she weighed up what Ray had said against the effect of her friend refusing them entry, but in the end, she surrendered, and smiling she said. "Okay, my white knight, we will do as you ask, after all, we are on the side of right. And you are correct Ray, the answer to my question would be incorrect, if we did not explain all of the dangers to those who we ask to aid us, only then will we find those who are not only my friends, but are willing to fight for what is right."

**********

Barbarossa had despatched a second vessel to join in the search, as for his starships, they could not help, not with all the life forms that lived on the planet. No, his two ground attack vessels, which were actively searching a comparatively small area of land, meant that the odds were on his side. For the princess to be elsewhere, without the use of an automobile or a starship was impossible. He had one other hope, that someone would inform him of the whereabouts of the princess, the reward offered was large enough to tempt most of the population.

**********

They rode along under an overcast sky, worried by both the chance of rain, as well as to the appearance of another Maliki vessel. They stopped for a cold meal, one provided by Iyer, and rested for an hour. It was now that they saw three rough looking men walking along the trail, they did not stop until they reached Ray and the two women, who had stood up to greet the men. The three men seemed to be interested in the horses, the taller of the three men actually noting that the animals looked to be in good condition, that is until one of them caught sight of Athena.

"It's the princess, Malott!" One the three men, who was named Ricardo, exclaimed loudly while pointing at Athena.

It was the taller man who was named Malott, and on seeing Athena, he pulled out a crossbow bolt and began to fit it to his crossbow, that he had swung off his shoulder and was already turning towards Ray. However, Ray, seeing this aggressive action, rushed forward while pulling out his evil looking knife. As the bolt was pushed home Ray thrust his knife upwards and straight between the man's ribs, killing him instantly. Ray acted with violence because he knew that to have warned them off first, would simply have seen the men attack him en-masse, leaving Athena and Anika unprotected. Malott was still falling to the ground when Ray turned towards the man to his right flank who was nearest to Athena. The man had pulled out an equally evil looking knife and had begun to advance upon Ray, with the third man advancing on Ray's undefended left flank.

"He's done for Malott, he's killed him!" Ricardo exclaimed. He stood on Ray's left exclaimed, then he said. "Changi, you grab the princess, while I take care of the bloke."

Ray was undecided as to which man he should attack first and had partially turned towards the second of the two remaining villains, Ricardo, the one on his left who had said that he was going to kill him. Athena could see that they were in trouble, and to allow Ray to defend himself against the other antagonist, she pulled out a silver stiletto and moved towards Changi who on seeing the stiletto smiled. As Changi walked past Anika, she put out a foot causing Changi to stumble forward, he fell right on to the sharp blade in Athena's hand, then he collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes. This left Ricardo all on his own, he had been coming in on Ray's left flank, and seeing that he was now alone he held out a hand to Ray and said.

"Okay, give me one of your horses and I will go peacefully."

"We need all three of the horses my friend, and you are not going anywhere." Ray replied.

Ricardo rushed at Ray, swinging his own knife up towards Ray's stomach, however, Ray stepped to one side and pushed his own weapon in to the heart of the thug. Ricardo stopped moving for a moment, his face showing the shock he had felt when the knife entered his body and then he collapsed to the ground, dead.

The two women looked elated, and while they felt so happy, Ray had them help him to pull the three men around the back of the nearest large bush, to hide them and prevent the authorities from mounting a search in the near future for whoever had killed the three thugs. Once there, Ray checked on the condition of the three men, he found that they were indeed dead, looking at their still bodies, their bloody sudden deaths caused him to take a moment to fully absorb what had happened, for he had never killed anyone face to face. On board a space cruiser, the death of an enemy was much more impersonal, much more distant, also, you did not see the blood on your hands. This time, both his hands and his knife were bloody, he knew that he had to clean them before they encountered anyone else. He wiped most of the blood off the blade upon the dead men's' clothing, but it needed more. Then, he returned to his friends, they too had been affected by the violence, for the elation had died on their faces. They too had never seen it happen before, ever, but they were at war and such things happened in war. Ray used his water bottle to wash the blood off his hands and knife, then he put his knife back in to its leather scabbard that hung at his belt. Then he washed Athena's stiletto and when it was sufficiently clean, he handed it back to her. She looked at it as if wondering what it was, then she reached out her hand tentatively, and put the weapon back in to its scabbard. With this attended to, they gathered their belongings and mounted their horses and left the crime scene, for that is how Ray saw it. However, he forgave himself, the three men had brought their deaths upon themselves, it had been their choice to attack them, to take Athena back and get their thirty pieces of silver.

They rode along a twisting tree-lined track, one which had a wire fence on either side of it to keep travellers off the farm land behind it, no one said a word and they travelled in this way for at least an hour. It was as Ray was about to broach the subject of the three deaths that Ray's mount warned them, his mount had suddenly stopped and looked up towards the treetops, not frightened but definitely spooked. Then Ray heard a whoosh of air, he knew that sound, it was the air being expelled by a shuttle's vertical thrusters, then the soft whine of its main engine came to his ears, one of the two searching pirate vessels was approaching them. Luckily, there was a gate in the fence just here, it allowed access in to the meadow on the other side of the fence. Taking his mount's unease as a sign of the gods, Ray quickly dismounted and opened the gate, he then led his mount through it, with the two women close behind him, they stopped under a small group of trees, there to provide shade to the animals that grazed the meadow. Moments later, they sighted the evil looking craft, it flew straight along the track without noticing them. They gave it a full ten minutes, before they moved back on to the track and continued their long ride towards another friend, hoping that this one would prove not to be just a fair-weather friend.

They finally sighted the small farmhouse; it was just as the sun was setting and the rain was threatening to fall. The house was surrounded by a brick wall that separated it from the rest of the farm buildings that were all fenced off from the farm itself. Riding in through one of the two gates within the brick wall, the gate standing open as if the householder was expecting guests, they dismounted and strode to the front door of the farm house. Before they could knock, the door opened and Andreas Reddy stood there, seeing Athena through her disguise he said.

"I wondered if you would turn up one night asking for a bed and for something to eat." Andreas said and then smiled at her. "Athena, you are most welcome, please come inside."

Athena did not move, but Ray did, as far as the entrance to the farm house. "Not yet Sir, not until you have read this." Ray said as he handed the poster over to Andreas, he had pocketed it before leaving the Iyer farmhouse. Andreas took it and read the warning and smiling said.

"I have read this already Captain Tempest, a flying vehicle dropped in on me not long ago, however, I do not forget my friends, and certainly not because of these threats from a gang of thugs. No, Captain, Athena, enter my house, my family makes you welcome, even though the hounds of Hell are pursuing you."

"You know my name and who I am?" Ray asked quizzically.

"Commander Khan, the new emperor's right-hand man told me Captain, it seems the Delians know all about you." Andreas replied.

They entered the farmhouse and met his wife and three children, they were inside the small front room, as were his parents, and all rose to greet Athena and her two friends. There were no house servants here, and the farm workers were all resting in their homes.

Merci Reddy, his wife, immediately left the room to add to the meal already being prepared for the family, now three new mouths needed to be fed. Her two daughters accompanied her, however, her son, her eldest child, stayed behind to see to their guests.

While the meal was being prepared, Athena told her friend of their adventures, of their escapes and of those who had betrayed them. She did not list Iyer amongst the latter, for she understood the family's reason in asking her to leave, even if she would never have acted in such a way. She had not taken the servants in to account, how they might not see her as their princess, seeing her merely as one who enjoyed a well-fed comfortable life. someone they could report to Emperor Kali and take his 30 pieces of silver without their consciences bothering them.

"As I said before, the monsters of Delia have already been here, and so with luck they will not call again, however, unlike your last stopover, we have nowhere to hide you. Captain, you and Anika, you can be our servants, on their last visit, they did not ask if I had any, they merely searched the house. Athena, they will know your face, as it is clearly shown on the poster, therefore, if time permits, you will have to run to the barn and hide under the straw, that or run away from the farmhouse and hide yourself somewhere within the rear meadow, there the grass is long." Andreas Reddy suggested. If there is not sufficient time, then you will just have to do your best to evade them. I am sorry Athena, but my house is a simple affair, not a grand one, if you stay here, you will have to accept the dangers that come with it."

"I understand Andreas, and if you are willing to accept the danger that my presence presents to your family, then I also will have to accept it, that or surrender to the Delian."

Ray was proud to be her escort, for she was truly a princess of the blood, even if she knew nothing about the kind of life that most of her subjects had, of their battle to survive with little or even nothing at all to keep the wolf from the door.

They all settled down on the comfy chairs set around the room and spoke about their plans for the future. However, their future was so uncertain and filled with danger that the talk finally focused on the farm and its owners. Time past, everyone enjoying the chance for small talk, then dinner was served, and while the adults sat at the table, the children had to make do with the floor. Being a farmer, Andreas had to rise early, so they all thought about bed, and anyway, the three fugitives were weary.

"Athena, Anika, you can sleep in my two daughters` bedroom, they can move in with us. I am afraid that you Captain, will have to sleep in this room." Andreas Reddy said.

The night passed peacefully and the next morning Andreas Reddy led the three out to the barn to show them his latest acquisition, Andreas had a brand-new pick-up truck. Ray looked at their new friend, who met his eyes and smiled broadly, for he knew what Ray was thinking, that with this machine, they were only a day away from the space port.

"I would be willing to take you to Bhuta to collect your equipment Captain, in fact, I was planning on going to the town anyway, to collect some farming equipment."

"It would be easier travelling in your vehicle and two men would attract less attention from Kali and his pirate friends. In any case, there is no point in Athena travelling to the space port, our ride will almost certainly have left with the arrival of the Maliki."

"If your friend was able to slip away, then I agree, and if he left the planet, then his return would be extremely difficult for him, for the Maliki are not fools, they would immediately see an ulterior motive behind the arrival of a vessel from Earth. No, I believe that you are correct Captain, and if he stayed then he would probably have gone in to hiding on one of the uninhabited islands that exist in the Varina Ocean, waiting there for your call." Andreas said and then returning to their original subject.

"Enough of these conjectures Captain, back to our plans for tomorrow. I believe that we should set out two hours before dawn, it is about 300 miles to Bhuta, so the journey there, together with our business in and around Bhuta, should take us eight hours. Therefore, Captain, we should have completed our two tasks, dined and rested by the early afternoon. We should be back here just after midnight, assuming that there are no delays along the way."

Later that day, Athena spoke to Andreas about the question that she and Ray had been discussing the day before. He listened in silence, and only when she had finished, did he speak.

"Athena, if you do decide to stay and fight, then I will be your first recruit, for how can any civilized person sit back and allow such an animal as Emperor Kali is said to be, to rule Kritania, without at least trying to stop him."

The next morning came around and the two men set off in the ancient looking, to Ray, pick-up truck, however, this one was not ancient, it was the latest thing in Kritanian automobiles. Andreas, recognising the need for speed, stepped on the gas and the vehicle shot forward down the narrow and quite dark country lanes near to his home, the twin headlamps of the vehicle lighting up the way ahead. The miles sped by and soon they were getting close to the space port. The first thing that Ray saw was a freighter, it was parked in the middle of the space port, however, this was no ordinary freighter, this one had two plasma cannons, one set in the bows of the freighter and the other on its underside. This was the pirate ship that Barbarossa owned, actually, he stole it from the Brotherhood who had in turn stolen it from its rightful owner. It was obvious that even if the freighter Aldebra had been parked where Ray had left it, they were not going to escape from here. The many pirates that he could see in and around the space port meant that Jonah could not land without being boarded, nor leave without being searched.

It was then that a thought occurred to Ray, if the pirates were down on the planet, or in one of their ground attack ships, which were either on or flying close to the ground, that meant that the number of pirates left on their starships must be no more than skeleton crews. This was important because their starships were mainly converted freighters, they had a small plasma weapon but their defence shields were, for the most part, minimal. Their main weapon were their boarding crews, which, at the moment, were mainly down on Kritania. If an enemy was to attack their starships now, the Maliki would be hard pressed to repulse them. Should he perhaps inform the other pirate band of this, the Brotherhood and if so, would this produce the right sort of outcome, or merely be a change of oppressor? He decided to mull it over.

Ray brought his mind back to the reason that they were there, he and Andreas walked along the track that led them alongside the space port, they soon came to the tree and Ray pushed his hand in to the hidden hole beneath the tree and pulled out the package that he had hidden there. Opening it up he put the plasma weapon in to the top of his trousers, held in place by his belt and then he operated the communicator, He had decided to call Jonah to put his friend's mind at rest, for he would be sure to be worrying about him. His communicator scrambled whatever he said, and was unscrambled by a similar unit on the freighter, and vice-versa. Jonah must have been sitting on the bridge of the freighter, because he answered immediately.

"Ray, is that you?" Jonah asked anxiously.

"Yes, Jonah, I am fine, but how are you, are you safe?"

"I am fine Ray. Did you get the princess away from the palace, and are you near to the space port looking for me?"

"I am at the space port Jonah; however, I did not expect to find you still here, I really only came for the communicator and the plasma weapon." Ray replied and was about to continue speaking when Jonah cut in.

"Ray, listen to me, although I did take the ship to an island, one far away from the mainland, I am now just a mile off-shore and sitting on the bottom of the ocean at a point two miles north of where you are. Ray, you can come aboard anytime, you and the princess will be safe here."

Ray, silently swore, if he had brought the two women on this trip, they could have been safe in less than an hour.

"Jonah, they are not with me, I left them in a safe house while I made the long trip to the space port with a new friend, it seemed less risky that way."

Jonah frowned and thought for a second and then said.

"Ray, I cannot come to you, why not collect her and then return here, it would be the safest option?"

"Princess Athena is thinking about staying on the planet to lead a counter coup, I will have to speak to her before I can return. Stay safe, Jonah, I must sign off now, my friend is anxious to go before a guard finds us hanging around this close to the space port. I will call you tomorrow to give you an update."

Ray and Andreas now drove in to Bhuta and had their lunch at a small cafe where they talked about the problems that afflicted Kritania, there were too many ears listening to them to speak about their actual problem. When they had finished their meal, they collected the goods that had brought Andreas to town. Ray once again saw the mercenaries, one could not mistake them as they swaggered around demanding a respect which they certainly did not deserve, mixed in with them were some of the smartly dressed Delian warriors. When Andreas had loaded his pick-up truck with his goods, they drove northwards, back towards the farmhouse, both eager to be away from the pirates and warriors.

**********

In the throne room of the palace of Khardia, Emperor Kali was feeling a little exasperated over his inability to find the princess, or even any trace of her, and he took it out on his aide. "Commander Khan has two of the Maliki ground attack craft at his disposal, what is he doing with them. Contact him immediately and ask him for an update."

His aide rushed from the throne room and along to the quarters occupied by the Maliki and repeated this request. Minutes later and they heard back from Khan.

"I am on their trail, and as you know I almost caught them three days' ago, but the fool who had them allowed them to overpower him and then to escape on the fool's own horses. Since then they appear to have gone to ground somewhere nearby, they must be no more than thirty miles from my present location. I have ordered my men to search all the houses and out-buildings within that area, the Maliki vessels are ensuring that they do not travel beyond that, we will soon have them."

This report was passed on to Emperor Kali who looked less than impressed, however, he had hopes that another of his men might soon get on her trail. Feeling tired, he had a hot drink and read a book for an hour before he turned in for the night. He would not have done so had he realised that the majority of Khan's warriors, and also the Maliki, were searching far to the south of the house owned by Andreas, and that Ray was even now travelling along a road that was outside the current search area. However, not all of the forces under his command were with Khan, members of the Benin Faction were busy elsewhere.

**********

Ray and Andreas were a mile from Andreas's house, standing upon the brow of a hill, the moon that night was very bright and they could clearly see Andreas' farmhouse which was lit up by the light of the moon. Andreas saw that there were a number of horses tied up outside his house and fear gripped his insides.

"Ray, it looks to be a Benin Faction patrol, we must leave my vehicle here and proceed on to my house on foot, will you join me. Ray, I cannot allow those animals to harm my family, or Princess Athena, we may be going to war so please, if you are coming, have your ray-gun ready."

Ray smiled at his friend's description of his plasma pistol and said. "It is not a ray-gun Andreas, they only appear in a child's comic, this is a Colt P-9 plasma weapon." As he pulled it free from its holster and turned it on. "However, it looks and acts much like a ray gun and with the same results." Ray said smiling as he attempted to raise a smile on his friend's grim face.

Andreas looked at Ray and smiled, then he picked up his crossbow and a quiver filled with bolts, something he always kept with him when travelling, in case of the bandits that still plagued parts of Kritania. Then, they jogged along the road that led up to the house, reaching it in only fifteen minutes. Then, silently, they walked the last 100 yards until they were standing before the stone wall that ringed the farmhouse. Andreas took them around to a point where a large tree provided shade from the light shining down from the moon, it was here that they climbed silently over the wall. On the other side of the wall, hidden behind a large evergreen bush, they stopped to ensure that they had not been seen, there were just six horses tied in front of the house, meaning six warriors. Two of the warriors were walking around the house on guard duty, however, they were talking about Princess Athena and of the money they would receive for taking her back to Khardia and her waiting prince, they were not exactly looking for trouble. As the two men passed by their position, Ray and Andreas moved forward, Ray now had his evil looking knife in his hand, he had returned his pistol to its holster. Ray and Andreas arrived behind the two men, who were now talking about their favourite tavern and the women inside of it. Two hands reached out and covered the mouths of the two guards and then the guards felt the cold steel of two sharp knives, it was only for a moment, for then their throats were slit. The bodies of the two guards immediately slumped down to the floor, silent and dead. There had been no other way to deal with the two guards, left alive, the assistance given by Andreas and his family to Princess Athena would come to the attention of Emperor Kali, and then Andreas's family would have been put to death. With the better odds, Ray put his knife away and pulled out his pistol, with this weapon the odds were now on their side.

Walking back to the front door, Ray and Andreas entered unnoticed by the sergeant and his three remaining warriors, Andreas had his crossbow and Ray had his pistol. The sergeant was describing what he would do to Merci when a crossbow bolt pierced his heart, entering from his back. One of the warriors turned to see a plasma pistol pointed his way. Ray fired it, a bolt of whistling energy shot across the room and killed him instantly. As the other two warriors turned to face their attackers, Anika pulled out a sharp knife that she had concealed about her person and thrust it in to the back of one of the warriors, the last warrior died when Apollo, Andreas's son, stabbed him for threatening his mother, as of late, he too had kept a knife tucked in to the side of his boots.

Ray, Andreas and Apollo immediately took the four bodies out to where the warriors' mounts waited, then they slung them over their saddles and tied them on. After collecting the other two bodies, and three spades, they climbed upon their own mounts and led the six horses out in to the night, not stopping until they came to a spot that Andreas had picked out. Here they buried the warriors, their saddles and riding tack, with their work done, they stopped to say a few words over the dead men, and then they released the horses to join those of a local horse trader. If he noticed the increase to his herd, he would not mention it, he would merely sell them at market, maybe even to the Benin faction, for the horses were not branded in any way. The ride home was in silence for no one wanted to speak, their actions, the killing and the secret burial, although necessary, was something that they hoped they would not need to repeat. Ray, could not wait to leave Kritania and its problems behind him, he had now killed four men, all of them deserved punishment and their deaths were necessary and for a really good reason, and death always happened in war, even so.

After returning to the farm house, they dismounted at the large barn, took care of their mounts then returned to the house to find that the women had cleaned up the blood, both inside and outside of the house. The women were not as squeamish as the men, they also knew that what had happened had been necessary, their consciences were not troubled. With everyone exhausted, they went to their beds and slept, some soundly, some fitfully, for who knew what danger lay ahead of them.

**********

Meanwhile, in a turret that sored high above his palace, Say'd Syn was being kept informed on the latest events by his supposed jailer, a man who has changed his allegiance to the former ruler when Emperor Kali formed an alliance with the Maliki. He knew, for example, that his daughter was still thought to be on Kritania, due to the early return of the Maliki, but with her location still unknown to Emperor Kali. He worried about her, but he believed her to be safe as long as she remained with Captain Tempest.

**********

Emperor Kali was not the only one annoyed with his commander's inability to find Princess Athena, so was Barbarossa, especially as the pot of gold promised to him by the off-world miners seemed to be further away than ever. The princess`s marriage to the now Emperor Kali, did not seem likely now, even though it had been in Kali's grasp not so very long ago. The portents showed that the emperor's reign could well be a very short one, lasting only up until the Maliki left Kritania.

Chapter Four

Athena wants to Stay and Fight

The following morning, Emperor Kali woke up and screamed yes, with delight, if he had been Archimedes, he would have screamed eureka, but he was not Archimedes, he was the emperor of Kritania. He suddenly realised that he had spent too much time in worrying about Athena. What he should have been doing was to ensure that he ruled long enough to fulfil his dreams, he must create a better world for all. He had a leisurely breakfast and then he had his broadcasting technician report to him, he was going to speak to the nation, to ask for their support in his radical plan to bring the majority of their people out of poverty. In fact, the majority did not live in poverty, however, a great many of them were not that far enough above the poverty line, so his words would be greeted by them with an equal cry of joy.

**********

That same morning, in the front room of the farm house, Ray told Athena of his trip to Bhuta and of the safety it offered her.

"Athena, I spoke to my friend aboard his starship, he is waiting for us just offshore, a few miles north of Bhuta. Athena, we can be aboard the freighter by this afternoon it is just a half day's drive away. It will provide you with a secure place to hide, one safe from detection by Emperor Kali or the Benin Faction, where no one else will die because they were brave enough to come to your aid." Ray explained. "There, you could wait in safety for the departure of the Maliki, something that must happen sooner rather than later, and then we could go to Earth, which is what your father wants you to do."

Andreas, Merci and Anika had entered the room, and they too had heard what Ray had said and they too awaited Athena's reply, to see if she was a strong princess, or a frightened young woman. Athena answered that question now.

"Thank you, Ray but I must refuse your offer of safety, which it surely is, that I understand Ray. However, it would be running away from my people and I would feel ashamed to call myself a princess of the blood if I ran away and left my people in the hands of a sadistic brute."

The others came forward to offer their help, however, Ray hung back for the moment. "In that case Athena, may I say that I am proud to know you, tell us, what do you propose to do?"

"I intend to mount a counter-coup, I will ride around to all my friends, and any others who I believe may join with us, and prepare for the day when the pirates leave Kritania, then we will strike."

It was agreed that Athena should start the next day, today they needed to rest. Just before lunch, Ray asked Andreas a question. "Why didn't Emperor Kali threaten to kill Say'd Syn, if Athena did not return to him and become his bride?"

"Because, he would be a fool if he ever believed that Athena would surrender to him, for if he were to kill Say'd Syn, it would precipitate a full-scale civil war that he could not win. You see Ray, the other princes of Kritania would wait for the Maliki to leave, which at some time in the near future they certainly will, and then they would rise up and crush his rebellion. Finally, they would repeat their demand that Athena choose a husband from amongst them." Andreas replied.

"Then why Andreas, will they not rise up if Athena did return and marry him?" Ray asked quizzically.

"Because of the laws that govern the princes of Kritania. These laws were agreed on by all of the princes' ancestors when the planet united behind the one emperor, and the laws will not permit it. For Emperor Kali has stated that he is marrying in to the blood line, which is, of course, permitted and Say'd Syn is not refuting it, probably because of the Maliki space fleet in orbit around our planet. If you had not helped Athena to escape, the marriage would have taken place the moment the fleet returned. As it is, the whole thing is spiralling out of control for Kali, which could be dangerous for everyone. However, if Emperor Kali were to assassinate Say'd Syn, then the Princes of Kritania would, by law, be free to intervene, after the Maliki leave." Andreas explained.

It was at that very moment that the voice of Emperor Kali interrupted the music program on the radio. They immediately stopped talking, to see what their new emperor had to say today. Athena and the others joined them, so Andreas turned up the volume as Kali began.

"People of Kritania, this broadcast is to inform you that I am going to raise the living standards of everyone, the elite, the merchant class and especially the people who do the majority of the work, please listen carefully and I will outline how this will be done. The first thing that I am going to allow is the building of many more factories over the coming years, this one action will provide well paid jobs for many of the lower paid workers. The second thing that I will do is allow the off-worlders to mine a limited amount of the many minerals that our world possesses. They will pay us for every ounce they take away and apart from the technicians needed to operate their high-tech machinery, they will only be allowed to use local workers. Life will improve for everyone, especially when the new wonder products manufactured in our own factories hit the markets. There will be one other major improvement to the lives of all our citizens, it will commence in the near future, as soon as the necessary administration has been set up. Medical care will be free to all workers, it will be paid for in three ways, Firstly, by a small tax on all items manufactured in all of our factories, be they new, or old. Secondly, it will also be paid for by the off-worlders who mine our planet's minerals. Finally, all imported items will also be taxed and at a higher rate than goods produced on Kritania. This broadcast will be repeated on the hour, every hour, for the next two days."

Athena and Andreas were stunned, although Merci and Anika were smiling following the broadcast. Ray turned to Athena and asked.

"Athena, Kali does not sound like the monster he is portrayed to be, are you sure that the stories about him are true, there is no chance that he has been slandered?"

Athena looked at Ray, stunned by his words. "Of course, they are, our ministry of propaganda would not lie to us." However, her words were hesitant, as she thought over what Ray had asked, a little doubt creeping in to her mind.

Ray then said. "Athena, you will need more support than you will get from the few brave friends who agree to join you. People like Andreas, Merci, are not enough. When all of the people of Kritania have heard that radio broadcast, they will take to the streets to show their approval. If your class attempted to mount a counter-coup, those same people would take to the streets once again, this time to stop you. No, Athena, you now need to get the support of the masses, rather than the elite. You would need to speak to the people over the radio, hold meetings to listen to what they have to say and then promise to match or better what Kali has promised." Ray advised. "Unfortunately, it may be too late now Athena, Kali has already promised to help the needy and the not so needy. Even your friends will have been impressed by his words and Kali will be able to begin almost immediately, you on the other hand will first need to find a radio station or a newspaper which will broadcast your message, which will be seen by many to be too little, too late. You may have to rethink your future."

"As you say Ray, I will indeed have to think about the current situation, but surely you are not saying that you agree to allowing the alien miners in, to steal away our mineral wealth, as Emperor Kali is saying he will do. I thought that you were against such an action." Athena asked quizzically, both unsure of what she should do and a little surprised to hear one who she respected advise such an action.

"If he limited the amount that they mine Athena, then it would be hard to argue against, as too will the building of more factories, both of these measures will create jobs for the unskilled workers of your world. Factories built both by your people and by the off-worlders, one's building modern goods at an affordable price will also create more jobs in the transport and retail businesses. And as he has publicly stated, these acts should raise the standard of living amongst the poorest of Kritania, make many more people that more prosperous, if enacted correctly. Coupled to that is the promise of free medical care, that is surely a vote winner for every citizen who is not one of the elite." Ray paused here as he tried to put his thoughts in to words.

"Maybe instead of fighting him, you should meet him, talk to him to see if he is the monster painted by your propaganda ministry. If you think that the stories about him could be lies, join him ensure that he does not make the mistakes which were committed on Earth and Mazere, to help him provide a better future for Kritania and its people." Ray explained and as Athena did not reply he then said.

"Of course, Emperor Kali, will need to generate much more electricity, to supply the many new factories and other buildings that will accompany a ramped-up industrial revolution. I would advise you to build ones that use renewable energy sources, rather than more of your coal-powered electricity power generators, which produce poisonous fumes and harm the environment, Earth could assist you in setting them up." Ray said. "You and your father could advise Kali as to the direction that this bloodless revolution takes."

Looking rather stunned by the all that she had heard over the last few minutes, she replied in a shaken voice. "Yes, I think that I understand Ray, and you are correct, and about the power, I visited a power station earlier this year, it wasn't very nice. The smoke coming from it was black, it matched the colour of the buildings in the town, washing clothes must have be an endless chore, and drying them? While I was there, the locals also complained to me that their health, in some ways, it was not as good as when they had toiled away in the fields, however, the wages were better."

"Athena, it will not be necessary to close your existing power stations, if scrubbers are installed you can stop 90% of sulphur dioxide emissions, although you would have to accept the financial costs involved in using such technology." Ray added struggling to find the Kritanian words for what he wanted to say.

Over the course of the next week, what Ray had said proved to be true. friend after friend said that they were quite content with Emperor Kali as their ruler, and many were looking to get rich under his rule. The old Athena would have been shocked by their attitudes; how could they countenance the evil Kali taking power so that he could enrich himself, the new Athena took it in her stride, until that is, she spoke to one who had actually been to Delia and met Kali.

"I was there last year, met the prince, as he was then, spoke to him, liked him and what he had to say. I stayed in the city for a week, met many of the ordinary people and some of the so-called elite, they all respected him. They all said that the stories being spread about him were lies told by your father, they began after the prince had gone to speak to your father regarding the poverty that he stated was killing so many of our people unnecessarily."

Athena left her friend's house soon after that, stunned and unable to argue with someone who she respected as a person. It was while she was with one of her friends that comments from one of her friend's servants, overheard while she was using the bathroom, shocked her for a second time.

"Princess Athena only thinks about her rich friends, she cares nothing for the masses, if they starve, or die from lack of the funds to pay for a doctor, so what, there are so many of us. Say'd Syn has done nothing for the last thirty years, nor his father before him, why should we believe that things will be any better now, if she was to be restored to power. Emperor Kali is in power now, he is offering us a better future now, something my children need now, not sometime in the far distant future, if at all."

This comment was met by approval by the other servants and it left Athena both shocked and ashamed. Ashamed that her people thought that way about her family.

They returned home just in time to hear Emperor Kali make a second broadcast. "People of Kritania, I speak to you as your new emperor. I want to tell you the reason why I deposed Say'd Syn, it was because he was the friend of the so-called elite, but an enemy of the people of Kritania, keeping you ground down, mere servants of the ruling elite and little more. He was my enemy too, and of all that I believe in, that we can all live a life that is full of hope and beauty, with enough money to enable us to send all of our children to school, or to visit the local doctor when we are ill. I went to him when he was your emperor and begged him to allow more factories to be built, to create many more jobs, to improve the lives of the poor, however, he refused to listen to me. Because of this crime against the people, Say'd Syn will remain a guest in the palace, he will no longer be able to keep you ground down in gutter, no longer able to enjoy the good life while you attempt to find the money to put food on your tables." Kali stopped here for a moment before continuing in a more upbeat tone.

"My people, I have already told you what I intend to do to make your lives grow richer, and factories are even now being planned by the few citizens amongst the rich who agree with my policies. I have told my friends, the Maliki, that I no longer require their protection, their space fleet can leave Kritania whenever they are ready. Tomorrow, most of my warriors will return to their homes, leaving behind my personal guard of 100 warriors to guard the palace along with the Lancers, nothing more. That means that there will no longer be any guards at Khardia and Bhuta railway stations, nor at the space port, the newspaper offices or the radio station. My people, it has also come to my attention that some of my warriors stole from and harassed the merchants and people of Kritania, that will no longer be countenanced. Report any further occurrences to the local police, the Mahabali, who will have my permission to arrest anyone committing such an offence. If this does not happen, send a telegram to me and I will ensure that any complaints of this nature are acted upon."

He now reverted to his original tone. "Princess Athena, this part of is for you alone, if you no longer want to become my wife, then you can leave from the space port with your alien space captain, and take with you any who do not want to be a part of a new, farer, Kritania. However, if you chose to leave, you will not be allowed to return to Kritania, ever. If you chose to stay, remember that I do want you to be my wife, to help me rule over our people, to build a better future for all. I beg you to please return to the palace and we will be married the very same day, your father will be free to live in a manor house of his choosing."

He now reverted to his upbeat tone. "My people, I invite all of you to join with me, to help build a new Kritania, to become a part of a new Kritania, this act will allow your children to experience a life that you only dreamed of under Say'd Syn. This is Emperor Kali signing off, an emperor who cares for all of his people, not just those who are the elite of Kritania."

Kali's final words sent a chill through Athena, who looked to be beaten, especially after hearing her friend's words corroborated as regards his visit to her father. Two hours later, a third radio broadcast caused their spirits to sink even further, it told them how a rally of hundreds of thousands of citizens had taken to the streets in support of Emperor Kali, many of their chanting his name as they filled the narrow streets of the capital city, of the old town and around the palace.

Just then, General Chandra, who had heard of her attempt to stay and fight, to mount a counter-coup, finally tracked her down, and he arrived seconds after the radio broadcast.

"Your Highness, I have come to offer you the support of the Lancers. When the Maliki leave, we had already planned to rise against Kali, if you would lead us, our success would be guaranteed."

"I am afraid that it is too late General Chandra, it is over, Emperor Kali has won without fighting a single battle, for he has the people behind him, and quite rightly so, and they will not allow us to mount our counter-coup. As for me, I will return to Khardia to marry him, to ensure that he does not betray the people now that he has them in his pocket. If he ever does betray them, then I will push a knife between his ribs and kill him. And what of my father, with me as his bride, Kali will have to allow him to walk free, to live out his life on our small country estate, provided that he abstains from politics.

One second later and Emperor Kali walked in to the room, much to everyone's surprise, his agent having followed Chandra. Kali had used one of the Maliki ground attack vessels to transport him quickly to the scene as soon as his agent had reported that the general was obviously journeying some distance to meet someone of importance.

"Athena, I am so very happy to hear you say those words, at last, and I promise that I will never betray the people of Kritania." Kali said.

Athena struggled out of her shocked state. And promised her husband to be. "I will be your bride Kali, but if you betray the people of Kritania, as I said. I will personally kill you."

"We should travel back to our palace Athena, once there I will order the release of your father, for he must give you away this afternoon, when we will be married."

Ray returned to the palace with them, at Kali's request, and from what Ray saw of the new emperor, he looked to be a good man, not a tyrant nor a monster as he had been portrayed. One who allowed a chastened Say'd Syn to attend the wedding, for he too had heard the speeches, and his first words to Ray were.

"Captain Tempest, from what I have seen and heard, he does not resemble the monster that I believed him to be, I will have to speak to the royal propaganda department, to ask them whether they portrayed him as he really is, or not. If the new emperor will permit such a question."

The next morning, the newly married emperor spoke to Ray and asked him to stay on for a while, for Athena had told him of his wise words regarding the future of Kritania, and Ray had agreed. Jonah Smart brought the Aldebra to Khardia, parking in the parade grounds of the palace the only place large enough to accommodate the small freighter, here he was treated as a welcome guest and where he sold the remainder of his goods to the traders within the old town of Khardia. The first importer to pay the newly created tax that would go towards paying for the free medical care for all.

Chapter Five

A Throw of the Dice

Although Emperor Kali had won everything that he and the pirates had set out to do, Barbarossa had not been too impressed by the radio broadcasts, even though they had finally won Emperor Kali the empire. Barbarossa thought that Kali had promised the people too much, he had even talked about limiting the amount of minerals that the alien miners could take from out of the ground. What would follow, he wondered, a promise to the people that the off-worlders would provide more than just jobs, they would put half of their profits back in to Kritania. This would limit what he could make them pay him, Kali should have realised that he, Barbarossa, was not in this to look good, he was in it for the betterment of himself. Yes, Princess Athena had returned to marry Emperor Kali, however, with his latest actions, Barbarossa could see him listening to the thoughts spoken by his new bride and even her father. Not only would this place restrictions on the amount of minerals that the alien miners could extract, there would be less profits coming out of the new factories because of the taxes, this in turn would mean even smaller profits for him and his pirate band. Maybe he should take the planet for his own plaything, become the emperor while his nine pirate captains replaced the local princes. The Maliki could become extremely rich that way and without the need to journey to other worlds. However, first he would have to destroy the Brotherhood, to ensure that they did not encroach on his territory or Kritania. However, he would give Kali a chance to prove to him that he had not changed, merely become trickier. So, Barbarossa went to call on the new emperor and he told him that he would leave when he was ready and not before. Any improvements Kali wanted to make in the lives of his people would have to come from his own share, he was not going to countenance any reduction in his own share.

Kali grinned and bore the bile that accompanied Barbarossa's pronouncement, he had never wanted to be mega-rich, and at least the mercenaries were leaving. The mercenaries returning to their own cities were disarmed as they entered the palace to be paid for their work. They had not liked it, but, Kali and Khan had their plasma pistols levelled on their heads, and the Lancers had their crossbows aimed at the warriors unprotected backs. The stack of broadswords and shields were stored away in the armoury, the Lancers would be trained in their use, they would stay in Khardia to protect the palace while most of his warriors were to be despatched to Delia and Bhuta to keep order there.

**********

Ray was eager to leave Kritania, however, Admiral Nelson had contacted him through the Aldebra and asked him to compile a report regarding the new emperor, primarily regarding whether he appeared to be keeping his promises to the people. As this new order prevented him from leaving, keeping him there for a month or more, he decided to put his plan to rid the planet of the Maliki in to action, after first consulting the new emperor. Using the communications centre in the palace, he sent a coded message to the Brotherhood, for Earth had long broken the pirate's code. It told them that the starships of the Maliki were not only operating with skeleton crews, the crews were down on the planet's surface drinking and wenching. Also, three of their vessels were sitting on the planet's space port with their crews enjoying the alcohol and the women of Kritania. If the Brotherhood acted fast, they could have their revenge upon their competitor. He asked them to send him a message when they had commenced their attack, the warriors on Kritania would then launch their own attack on any pirates who were on the surface of the planet and thereby reducing the ability of the Maliki to respond to the attack in space.

Ray knew that he had gambled with the future of a whole planet, but he reckoned that the chances of it back firing were poor, for both pirate bands should be weakened in the engagement. It would give Kritania a chance to force the two bands to leave their planet long enough for him to convince Earth to send a space cruiser in to this sector of space to finish the job.

Jonah Smart was still planet-bound, waiting for free passage to be given by the Maliki, which they now did, any starships arriving or departing would be able to do so without hindrance. It was a move that all were expecting, otherwise, how would the off-worlders be able to build their mines or factories. As Ray had no idea when his latest task would be completed, Jonah returned to Earth in the Aldebra and before the Brotherhood arrived, for who knew what would be the result, whichever band of pirates won.

**********

The Brotherhood fleet of seven starships appeared from behind the system's sun and were upon the seven Maliki starships before they knew that an enemy fleet had arrived. The Maliki starships were all converted freighters with just one light plasma cannon located in the bow of the vessel, as were those of the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood starships were moving at their best speed, each had their own target and as soon as they were in range, they opened fire. Their targets were all in orbit above the planet, and so the fire computers of the Brotherhood vessels would have had an easy task, if the crews on the Maliki vessels were not manning their bridges. Unfortunately, the crews on three of the Maliki saw their arrival and as they were responding to the attack, they notified the other four vessels as well as the skeleton crews on the three vessels at the space port of Bhuta.

As the crews on the Maliki vessels rushed to their battle stations, the Brotherhood vessels sent seven plasma bolts at them five missed but two exploded against two of the Maliki pirate vessels, they did not destroy them but they did disable them. The crew of the first vessel were shut off from engineering when the crash doors closed automatically when the hull between the bridge and engineering was breached. The second Maliki vessel hung motionless in space when the bridge on the vessel was destroyed, what remained of its crew were leaderless and panicking. As the other five Maliki vessels gathered speed and turned to meet their attackers, the Brotherhood were upon them firing at and utterly destroying two more vessels before they shot past their enemy. Outnumbered, the remaining three Maliki vessels attempted to seek shelter behind the planet's solitary moon, unfortunately, their enemy smelling victory turned about and met them round the far side of the moon. The resulting battle left the three Maliki ships in flames as well as badly damaging three of the Brotherhood vessels, who would no longer take part in the battle and would need extensive repairs to either their hulls, their engines, their miles of fibre optic highways or the hardware that controlled starships. This left the Brotherhood with four remaining vessels.

The battle in space was now over, the crews of the Maliki vessels would all die if not rescued by their enemy, for their escape craft were down on the planet's surface.

**********

On Kritania, the warriors in Bhuta and Delia received the code word they were waiting on, it came via the telegraph from Kali. They were not wenching or drinking, they had been forced to stay at readiness for battle, when it came, they moved on to the streets, relishing the ridding of Kritania of the Maliki threat, parasites that had long sucked the lifeblood out of the nation. The majority of the pirates never even realised that their vessels were under attack, so when the warriors of Deli suddenly swooped on them and took them prisoner, they went quietly. Any who resisted heard the soft swish of the deadly crossbow bolts even as their hands reached for their plasma pistols, but in a crowded bar they lost much of the advantage that they had over more ancient weapons, such as the Khardia knife.

In Bhuta, Delia and Khardia the pirate numbers sharply dropped, those that survived the initial attack and attempted to escape, fell to the floor dead with either a crossbow bolt in them, or after the deadly Khardian knife had pierced their backs or cut their throats. It was over in a relatively short period of time, with the final ones captured while in the bed of a whore or as they staggered along a badly lit alleyway. Their plasma pistols were taken from them and used against any solitary pirate that resisted the angry warriors of Delia or the Khardian Lancers. Barbarossa did not fare much better, yes, he was warned about the Brotherhood's attack, but even he did not expect to find danger on the surface of the planet. He died as he approached his ground attack ship, fear on his face as he looked at the plasma pistol in Khan's hand, who smiled at him and then sent a plasma bolt whistling through the air to explode in his chest. Two pirates who had been accompanying Barbarossa died with him, succumbing to the deadly crossbow bolts fired by two Delian warriors.

The three starships at the space port of Bhuta never even lifted off, the Delian Warriors swarmed aboard them and captured the crew even as they were readying their vessels for departure when enough of their crews returned from the delights offered by Bhuta. The airlocks left open to allow the returning crews easy access to the vessels. Using the skeleton crews aboard them, Ray had the vessels moved before the battle in space was over, the vessels hidden far away from the space port so that the Brotherhood scanners did not find even a trace of them. The small crews aboard the vessels had to obey, for the Delian warriors each held a plasma pistol and each was aimed at the Maliki crew, and each warrior swore to use them to ensure that the pirates obeyed their new orders, even if it meant that it would result in their own death. The vessels would be used to ensure that any returning pirates would be met with force, after crews had been trained in their use, Ray being of the opinion that Earth would agree to do this now that Kritania was prepared to deal with the pirate menace.

Meanwhile, Kali followed Ray's advice, fires were set all around the space port so that the poor-quality scanners of the pirate vessels in space would show the three starships to be on fire. This would prevent the Brotherhood from searching for them, assuming they came out victorious, and then using the starships against Kritania.

********

With the battle in space over, the four starships of the Brotherhood used their scanners to check on the status of the three Maliki starships that were on the surface of the planet, their commander scowled when he saw flames consuming the space port, for he had hoped to capture at least one of them. With no chance of this happening, he ordered his remaining vessels to rescue any surviving crewmen from their own damaged vessels as well as the ones of the Maliki, who would happily enlist with the victors. The hulks of the damaged starships were to be left behind until the Brotherhood returned with enough parts to repair them.

On the planet's surface, General Chandra reported back to Emperor Kali that all of the pirates in Khardia were either captured or dead. Soon after similar calls came from Delia and Bhuta. The pirate menace was over, for the moment, however, Emperor Kali asked Ray to call Earth with an invitation. Would they like to build a base on Kritania, to help him to make this sector in space pirate-free? Ray now took a moment to sigh with relief, his wager had come off big-time. The people of Kritania could look forward to a bright future, one where the pace of life would move at a much faster speed.

The commander of the Brotherhood decided that his people needed something to recompense for the loss of three of his vessels, He called Emperor Kali on the communications system in the tower and ordered him to have food, alcohol and platinum ready for him. The landing site chosen for the four shuttles, which would be sent down by the Brotherhood, was the same place that Jonah Smart had used not so long ago. If this order was obeyed, the Brotherhood would depart, they promised, otherwise he would destroy the planet's cities using his plasma cannons. Kali swore, he would do as ordered but only this once, he would have to think of a way to stop the Brotherhood from returning, if Earth refused to cooperate.

Admiral Nelson replied the next day, he stated that as they had beaten their enemy on the other side of space, a space cruiser would be sent to Kritania, with diplomats aboard, to open diplomatic relations between the two planets. The second item on the agenda would be regarding the immediate construction of a military base on the Kritanian moon, for use by both civilian and military vessels. The future of Kritania would be one where the technology of the planet grew in leaps and bounds. Even Emperor Kali hoped that he had done the right thing in inviting Earth to come to Kritania to protect them from the Brotherhood. Say's Syn secretly thought that they could well have swapped one big problem for a much larger one regarding their culture.

The End

If you enjoyed this story then please leave a positive revue, your support really does make a difference.

Also, why not visit my author page by clicking on the link. Smashwords Books.

About the Author

I was born in London, England. Like most of the world, I had to work hard to pay my mortgage and all the other bills, so I only had the time and the energy to write some short stories. My wife and I have a son who is now married to a lovely wife and they have five children of their own. Since retiring to the Greek island of Crete, I have finally found the time and the energy to write some full-length Science Fiction stories.

************

Other Books by the Author

Colonies of Earth Series in order

Galaxy Spies

Time Storm

Rebirth

Trial by Ordeal

Horror Stories

Strange Tales; three short mild horror stories

Rob Hinds black magic stories

Kidnapped and Bound for Hell

The Satanists

Dreamscape

The Return of the Bitch from Hell

David Charlton stories, a science fiction series

Rescue Mission to the Stars

The Treasure of Altaraus

Return to Mazere

Other science fiction stories

Quasar

The Venetou

Invasion Earth

Lost and Far from Home

Journey to the Stars

Rebellion is in the Air

Pen Draig (coming soon)

Short children's stories

Three Journeys of the Scary Kind

