There was nothing to see.
Not yet.
I realized with dawning horror what it was.
The Changelings were coming. And there wasn’t a doubt in my heart what they were coming for.
Me.
They were coming for me.
Removing the vehicles to get at the one I needed out was taking too long. By the time it was out, it would already be too late.
We needed to act.
Now.
The Changelings must have learned about my plans. How? I didn’t know. They must have spies everywhere.
Perhaps one of the guards in the room?
One of the guards standing behind me right now?
I shook my head. It was impossible to know for sure. None of it mattered. All that mattered was lighting the beacon. Do that, and the spies would crumble.
“Follow me,” I said to Zes.
I marched across the forecourt toward the wall on the other side.
The dust kicked up and swirled overhead.
And there, I saw it.
A distant blot on the horizon.
A mountain moved.
But it wasn’t a mountain. It was a war class frigate—one of five the Changelings had at their disposal during battle. One frigate operated as a single army all by itself. Sections of the ship could break way and carry out more intricate attack formations. Even those smaller ships carried multiple drones and fighters that could spew from the undersides and destroy an entire city in hours.
The most maddening thing? There was only one species that mined the necessary minerals to build such a ship.
The Titans.
Yes, we had sold them the materials they needed to declare war on us.
It made me sick to my stomach to think about it.
It could be reversed… but only if I could get to the beacon and light it. A whole series of events would be kicked off and not easily quelled.
I just needed to reach it.
“Sir, I believe that is a Changeling ship,” Zes said.
“It appears so,” I said, not stopping.
“Shouldn’t we prepare for their arrival? They’re not known to be the most… patient of species.”
“They didn’t announce their approach,” I said. “So, if they have to wait a while because we need to prepare for their unexpected arrival, that is no fault of ours.”
Zes screwed his lips up but said nothing.
I knew why they were coming. They wanted to stop me from lighting the beacon. Could they destroy the beacon and stop me that way?
No. There was no way to destroy it. The top section of piled wood was merely decoration. The beacon itself connected across the entire moon like a celestial nervous system. Titans had a special connection to nature because it really was like the connections in a brain. The beacon was an ancient and powerful relic from the ancient world, harkening back longer than our culture had a memory.
With our electronic systems of communication blocked, there was no way for us to communicate other than with our ancient and mystical methods.
I approached the wall of curled engravings and ran my hands over it. It’d been a long time since I came this way. I needed to remember exactly how to open it…
That’s right.
I felt for the curved leaf and pressed it. It popped out and I turned it clockwise. For a moment, nothing happened. I wondered if it’d broken during the years it hadn’t been used.
The wall parted via a barely perceptible crack and it shunted open. I grabbed a torch on the wall and lit it. Then I led the way, descending into the darkness and the steps below.
The guards followed behind just in time as the wall grumbled and slid into place.
When you weren’t able to move freely on the surface, you needed to make do with another method. These tunnels were built for such a secret purpose.
The steps moved down until we were below the castle’s foundations. There was no safer place to be.
“Are we expecting trouble with the Changelings, sir?” Zes said.
“I hope not,” I said. “But we have to prepare ourselves.”
“Prepare ourselves for what?”
“To strike back.”
“Strike back, sir?” Zes said. “I thought you wished to be more… diplomatic with your leadership?”
“I did. Too many Titans would have been slaughtered at the battle. I wouldn’t needlessly sacrifice their lives. But now the Changelings are here. They’re on our homeworld and spread across our empire. We outnumber them a thousand to one. All we need is to light the match and the final battle will begin—this time in our favor. The beacon is that match.”
Zes smiled but it didn’t touch his eyes.
“Then your allegiance is with the Titans?” he said.
I came to a stop. I turned to face the most loyal Titan I’d ever known.
“Of course it is,” I said. “It always has been. I will always do what is best for our people, even if it means accepting dishonor along the way. That’s the problem with an honor system, I’ve learned. You’re judged by each act you make and not the overall outcome.”
Zes nodded.
“I see,” he said. “And there’s no way to change your mind about this?”
“None whatsoever,” I said. “What’s the matter? Don’t you want to fight your enemies?”
“Oh, I want to fight all right,” Zes said. “But the enemy isn’t who we think it is.”
His eyes caught the light and glinted. I didn’t recognize the hint of menace in them until it was too late.
He moved so fast I caught only a flash of his arm as he swung it up and across—knocking the torch from my hands. It clattered to the ground ten feet away.
Zes spun around and drew his blaster. He opened fire and struck the first guard who hadn’t even seen the attack coming.
The second guard reached for his blaster but he fumbled it in the semi-darkness.
Another pull of the trigger and the guard was no more.
Instead of reaching for the torch, I ran at Zes.
I swung my arm at his pistol and knocked it from his hand.
Zes slammed his fist in my gut. It hit me with such force I curled around
