CHAPTER 9

Dnunian Vessel Horsk

Saturn, Outer Rim

Sol Sector

Prince Eryk was lying awake on his bed in his quarter. He felt that this spying thing was so ridiculous. He had not agreed to come and spy on his twin sister. But Troy could crush his neck if he rejected. He did not only respect Troy as the oldest brother among them, he also feared him. Well who did not? He was the chosen one. The reincarnation of the Holly Yagnar himself. All of them kept a sense of fear while looking into his eyes. All of them. Janoj, Sharc, Salvia, the rest of the people of Dnunia, and even their father. For the exception of only one person. Vassago. He was only two earth standard years younger than Troy and had earned Troy’s full trust. He was the only person who could look at him in the eyes and argue with him for hours. He respected Troy, but he never feared him.

Eryk had been sent by Troy to spy on Salvia. Eryk let out a sigh. He had been instructed to keep connected to her. Eryk felt he had been violated her privacy. Eryk and Salvia, being twins were connected telepathically. One could read the other one’s thought and sense the other one’s feelings. Sometimes they could even see what the other was seeing. It was common for Dnunian twins to be able to do all the above. However, there was a specific yet unwritten rule that prohibited them to scan the mind of their twins unless in emergency situation. And Eryk did not think this was an emergency. However, Troy had thought otherwise.

He had broken the connection with his sister’s mind a couple of hours ago. He had been feeling uncomfortable knowing that she had been at that moment having a sex relationship with Ardeth Bay VII. Once every hour he re-connected, but it seemed like she was having fun all day. So this time he let two hours passed before trying to connect with her again.

Eryk had known Ardeth well. He liked him very much. Eryk thought that he was the bravest human he had ever met. He didn’t mind that one day Salvia would end up marrying him. But once again, his thought didn’t count. Only Troy’s did. He had kept this secret from their father, but once Troy got all the evidence that Salvia had been seeing this human, he was sure that Troy would separate them. He hated taking parts in all this mess. He loved Salvia too much that he would let her do whatever she wanted to do.

He felt her anxiety, yet she was feeling happy. They had finished the love making, obviously. Puzzle box? She was thinking of a puzzle box…. A portal… a gateway to a stranger’s land. Then suddenly he felt her heart leaped in fear. Only a second, just one second and then he was disconnected from her mind.

Eryk sat on his bed, trying to re-connect with her, but he couldn’t find her. That could not be true. Their telepathic connection did not depend on distance. Even though they were separated in a different quadrant, they could still read each other’s mind. They could sense each other’s existence. But this time it was like she suddenly ceased to exist.

Eryk’s mind thought of only one word. DEATH.

"She’s dead." He trembled in fear. He quickly leaped out of bed and literally ran towards the turbo lift that would take him to the bridge of the Horsk.

Eryk burst into the bridge and saw the panic reaction of the crew. Only General Gunn who seemed to be in control of his emotions.

"What’s going on?" He asked the General.

"She disappeared, Your Highness." He answered carefully.

"What do you mean. Is she dead or alive?" He barked the words in front of his face.

"Your Highness, she simply disappeared. We were having too much static for a few minutes, then suddenly we lost her life signs…. together with one human. The Captain of the Enterprise had also disappeared with her." He explained to him as best as he could.

Eryk was not much different from his twin sister. He was not as spoiled, but he was as arrogance and as stubborn as Salvia. He had the same red long curly hair like Salvia’s, he even looked and moved almost like a female. No one doubted his ability in martial arts though. He was as good a fighter as his brothers. Only his appearance was too sweet for a Dnunian Prince or Warrior. He was into arts more than anyone else on Dnunia. That was probably one of the reasons he went along with Ardeth Bay VII.

"Then, what are you waiting for.. contact Starfleet Command and demand explanations." He ordered.

"We have, Your Highness. We are now on our way to Starfleet Headquarters. ETA 1 minute 27 seconds. I have alerted the other 5 vessels waiting outside this star system. They will be joining us." He said calmly.

"5 vessels? How come I’m not informed of this." He demanded further explanations.

"It was His Majesty Troy’s order to keep it discreet, Your Highness… even to you. Unless it is fully necessary…" He bowed his head as a sign of apology.

"Troy!" Eryk grumbled. He did not like the situation a bit. "What kind of vessels?"

"Two attack cruisers, The Molush and The Arks. Two battle cruisers, The Denqsk and The Llolash. And one Mother ship The Mansk as a supporter unit."

Eryk’s eyes widened as he heard the detail. "What… are you preparing to have a battle or what?"

"We have nothing to lose in getting well prepared, Your Highness." He bowed his head slightly.

Eryk waved his hand on the air, "Yeah.. you and your military strategic. I’m sure we’ll end up in another great holly war." He sat on the command chair that belonged to the General.

"His Majesty Troy is sending Prince Janoj and Prince Sharc to join us as well, Your Highness." General Gunn informed him.

"Oh? I see that he doesn’t have confidence that I could take care of this situation, eh?" Eryk laughed softly then shook his head. The General kept quiet. He knew that Eryk and Salvia didn’t get along too well with their oldest brother. From his point of view he could understand why they acted that way. Eryk and Salvia were unlike any other Dnunians. They were rebellious and spoiled. Sometimes they didn’t have respects for rules and regulations. However, the General understood that their behaviors were caused by lack of a mother’s love. The Queen had passed away of an incurable disease when they were only 5 months old. Since then, the whole royal house had been paying more attention to the twins, hoping that it would replace the love they had lost. But it was proven a wrong way to raise them.

Eryk was still staring at the screen. He was pre occupied with something. He didn’t like this situation. He didn’t like this at all.

CHAPTER 10

Hamunaptra

Egypt, 1933

Ardeth Bay was leading his troops of Med-Jai Warriors home from Ahmshere. They had once again been successful in defeating evil to protect mankind. The Med-Jai Warriors had fought bravely against the army of Anubis that had been risen by Imhotep, in order to defeat the Scorpion King and to rule the world. Unfortunately Imhotep had lost his power and had been defeated by Rick O’Connel.

The lost in Med-Jai’s side was unimaginable. Although they had won over the army of Anubis, they had lost hundreds of brave and loyal warriors, not to mention hundreds more wounded. Ardeth’s mind was now occupied in thinking what the best words to say to the family who had lost their fathers, husbands, and sons. He never actually liked this kind of job. He was not too good at talking.

The desert wind was gushing around them as a signal of a coming desert storm. The warriors covered their almost all parts of their faces, except for their eyes. They had to prevent themselves from inhaling the sand into their lungs. They were riding their horses as fast as they could to get to the village before the storm coming their way. The sky was getting unusually darker and darker.

They were now passing Hamunaptra. The once undisturbed burial was now in wreck and ruins after those irresponsible people had shifted the earth to get to Imhotep. The horses had been galloping at steady paces, but suddenly they stopped and shrieked back. The warriors tried to steady them. Some did successfully, but some were thrown off to the ground as their horses panicked. The ground beneath them was shaking. At first only the horses had sensed it, but seconds later the warriors started to feel the shaking. They were scattered around as they tried to take control of their horses that were acting wild. Ardeth too, was trying hard controlling his black stallion and balancing himself on the horseback so as not to fall off.

As quickly as it had come, the quake stopped. Yet, the horses were still acting wild. Then, slowly they started to hear the humming sound that came from beneath them. The sound was getting louder and louder. A blinding green light appeared from the ground and engulfed them all. All warriors closed their eyes in reflects. When they opened their eyes again, they could see a huge gate with whirling clouds inside it. Before the could even move one inch or speak any word, they saw two figures being thrown away from the clouds.

As soon as their bodies landed on the sand, the gate zapped closed. The blinding light was gone, the wind stopped whirling and the sun was as bright as usual, as if nothing had happened before. Their horses were suddenly quiet and one by one they rode closer to the two figures lying on the sand. Yet non of them got off of their horses. They were too amazed by the scene in front of them. All were holding on to their scimitars, some had even drawn them out of their sheaths.

Ardeth observed the figures carefully. One was a bald man. He was wearing a brown/black suite. He had never seen people wearing that kind of suite before. He was holding something in his right hand. He was slowly and carefully moving until he stood in front of them. He observed them as carefully as they did to him.

The other figure was… something. It has white skin, red hair, green eyes, and fangs. And it growled like a dog. It was wearing black suite… and boots. It also held something in its hand that looked like a metal box. It gazed over to the man and spoke some words that Ardeth could not understand. The bald man held a pad on his hand and checked it. Then he spoke to the creature again. It punched into its belt and Ardeth could see some lights on it.

Then suddenly it leaped forward and landed standing on its feet. A metal armor was emerging from nowhere to cover its whole body and head. Only her eyes were not shielded by the metal armor. It happened in only a few seconds. The trained warriors drew all their scimitars to get ready. They only knew that this creature that had emerged from nowhere was somehow demonic.

Ardeth commanded his men to stand guard. He knew they were all too tired to fight, and the bald man seemed to have control over the creature. They were all waited in tense. Each side waiting for their opponent to strike.