Now all I had to do was carry out the message he’d scrawled on that piece of paper.
I had to go light the beacon.
The people were ready.
Once they saw the rallying cry of House Taw, they would rise and battle their conquerors. They would be victorious. There was no doubt in my mind about that.
And still, the thought of losing just one innocent Titan life weighed heavily on my shoulders.
I marched down the hallways as fast as my legs could carry me. For the first time in weeks, I felt alive and full of energy. First, I needed to assemble the right men around me. The most trusted and loyal.
I met Zes when I reached the foot of the stairs on the first floor. He gave an order to a junior guard who took off at a run. Zes saw me coming, turned, and saluted. He scanned my body language and knew something was afoot.
“My lord?” he said.
He wore a distinct look of wariness in his eyes. He was probably still disgruntled from my earlier order not to question the prisoner. In time, he would learn it was the right decision.
But not right now.
“Come with me,” I said. “We have a mission.”
“Should I alert the men?” Zes said.
“No,” I said. “This doesn’t require all of us. Just a handful of our best.”
I clapped a hand on Zes’s shoulder.
“Today marks the beginning of a new age, my friend,” I said. “It is only right you are by my side when we usher it in.”
Zes tried to read my expression but there was no way he could ascertain what I’d decided to do.
Even I wasn’t sure I was ready for it!
Sometimes you had to begin even when you weren’t fully prepared. You would figure things out on the fly and hope everything worked out.
Zes marched alongside me.
“Perhaps if I knew what we were doing I could better prepare,” he said.
“There’s no need,” I said. “It’s a simple mission.”
“Then we might need the proper equipment? The right tools?”
“We already have what we need,” I said.
I marched out the main entrance and toward the large station where we stored the vehicles.
I couldn’t help but wonder about Sirena, right now taking a risk for Titans everywhere. The risk was small but it was still larger than I would have liked.
I thought about the offer I would make her once this was over. To marry me and be my wife. Once we had ejected the rot that’d claimed the empire, we could begin again, fresh and brand new.
She could return to her homeworld whenever she wished—I would go with her. I was fascinated to explore the world that helped fashion the woman I’d lost my heart to. Perhaps, in time, we could lead the charge on discussions between our two species, to share technology. I for one was very excited to learn the kinds of food and drink they had. If the mojitos were any indication, it could be a very tasty relationship indeed.
Sirena had surprised me many times over the past few days. With her openness and honesty, with how she cared for me, and how interested she was in our culture. She grew more beautiful each time I saw her.
And now I knew how right she felt in my arms.
I couldn’t wait to hold her again.
I swore to myself I would never let her go.
Yes, I had made that promise once long ago to another. But she was taken from me. I hoped it was not an experience I would have to go through again. To lose Sirena who I loved as much as my wife…
It was a pain too hard to bear more than once in a lifetime.
Sirena negotiated me through grief better than any map. She forced me to kiss her, knowing I needed it to unlock my agony. When I hesitated last night, unable to bring myself to knock on her chamber door, she’d been the one to show the strength and resolve I could not.
I approached the vehicle station. The guards opened the broad front doors and the master mechanic came blinking into the light. Caked in oil and fuel cells, he rarely stepped outside. He wiped his hands with a dirty towel. He was charged with keeping our vehicles topped up and ready to leave at a moment’s notice. With the number of vehicles we purchased over the years, it kept him very busy.
“What can I do for you, my lord?” he said.
He wore a permanent squint that always put me in mind of a mole that’d breached its underground burrows.
“The shuttlecraft,” I said. “We need to leave immediately.”
“I’m very sorry, my lord,” the mechanic said. “The shuttlecraft isn’t fully operational. I was working on it this very morning.”
“Give us something that will carry all four of us quickly over sharp terrain,” I said.
“The best vehicle for that would be the mountain buggy, sir.”
“Sounds perfect,” I said.
“Will you be needing it now, sir?”
“Just as fast as you can manage,” I said. “I’ll wait.”
The mechanic’s bushy eyebrows rose at the word ‘wait.’ He put his still dirty fingers in his mouth and whistled. The other mechanics stopped what they were doing and hustled over.
“The lord requires the buggy,” the mechanic said. “Let’s move these others out of the way and get it outside as quickly as possible. He’s waiting.”
On the word ‘waiting,’ the mechanics hopped to it.
Zes took me by the elbow and moved me out of earshot of the others.
“Sir,” he said, “perhaps if I knew what all this was about, I might be able to organize everything for you while you wait inside in peace.”
“I don’t need peace and quiet,” I said. “I need that vehicle as soon as possible.”
“Yes, my lord,” Zes said, looking a little putout.
A deep thrumming noise grew louder on the horizon. The ground vibrated beneath my feet
