Chapter 28: Ra at Peace
The Floating City of Ra was now at peace. Yet it had seemed unlikely even after the rescue of Princess Thalya by the Dragon Tribe and the discovery Queen Claudia’s survival by the Hawk Tribe.
Following the ceasefire at the throne room of King Horus, the Cainites began making their retreat, slowly to exit the Floating City of Ra. The hawk king had ensured the safety of the red-skinned Kruptosians, and the men of Cain thus slowly made their way out.
Cain was even a party to the discussions, though not in person; the hawkmen did not want the Emperor of Kruptos anywhere near the Royal Palace. Yet even the supreme ruler of the planet knew that a military occupation of the Floating City would not be feasible in the slightest. The hawks would surely rebel, and such an investment of men up in the sky would embolden the Lion Tribe down on the continent, and perhaps even the Shark Tribe at the Sea of Aquaea.
Thus, Emperor Cain with the Cainite fleet and army took Thalya, and withdrew from the Floating City, and the hawkmen allowed them to.
It was, in the words of the military analysts of the UEC, a white peace. Neither side truly won, yet both sides declared victory.
And as for Captain Abel Ramsey and his companions, they found themselves with a new set of allies. King Horus of Ra, grateful to the Sethites for saving the life of his beloved Queen Claudia, promptly granted everyone—from the Sethites to the lionfolks to the Shark Princess—residence in the Royal Palace. And the Star Surfer was given a parking spot in the king’s very own personal hangar at the upper floors of the Royal Palace.
***
At the purplish float-stone infused hangar of Ra’s Royal Palace, Rick looked up to the clear blue sky. The Star Surfer was parked neatly next to the king’s very own airship. As he looked at the ship he had been traveling on, he couldn’t help but to have a double-take.
“Hey Chief,” Rick said to Muwatalli. “I just realized something… it’s about the Star Surfer.”
Muwatalli raised an eye. “Our ship? What of it?”
“It’s white in color, silver to be exact,” Rick answered. “Yes, there are red lights and aura around it too. But it’s mostly white.”
“Yes, and?”
“Ships of the Dragon Tribe are primarily black in color, are they not?”
The Lion Chief gasped, having realized the inconsistency. “Indeed they are, Ricardo. That is strange indeed.”
“I’ve checked the ship systems and all the decks. Nothing’s off, all systems are fine,” Rick said. “So it’s not like there’s a trap or anything like that.”
“Perhaps the Cainites simply forgot to paint the ship before it was commandeered by Abel of Ramsey?” Muwatalli offered.
“Maybe,” responded Rick. “But I think it’s the other way around. It was originally black, as in obsidian black. But someone painted it white.”
“Who could have done such a thing?”
And a feline feminine voice interrupted, “Why, Princess Thalya, obviously.”
Rick looked to the source of that voice. “Nike! How are things?”
“As well as it can be, beloved.”
Muwatalli interjected, “Sister, what makes you think the daughter of the Conquering Cain was responsible for painting our ship white?”
Asmunikal smiled. “Call it, the intuition of a lioness.”
“Hmm,” said Muwatalli, crossing his arms.
Well there’s that,” Rick said, now ready to change the subject. “I’ve also done the headcount of our warriors, Chief.”
“Ah, and what of that?”
“Casualties minimal. If anything, we have the opposite problem.”
“Oh?” said Muwatalli. “Do tell.”
“The Star Surfer’s… well they’re overcrowded, to put it bluntly. Yes, we had to bring as many of our warriors as we could for the assault, and we simply didn’t have the time to evacuate them back to the Forests of Light. But now that the crisis had past, we should consider offloading some of them. Obviously, Parthas should remain.”
“That makes sense. Are you saying we should make a run to the forests?”
“Not quite,” Rick said. “Abel and Nia told me that Ra is a very cosmopolitan place.”
Muwatalli furrowed his brows. “Cosmo-what?”
“It means this place have men of all races living in it,” explained Rick.
Nike interjected, “You mean like our ship.”
“Yeah,” Rick said. “Like our ship, but the size of an entire city.
“What I’m getting at is that there are lionmen in this city, entire districts of them, actually. Probably refugees from Cain’s earlier conquests. There are districts of Cainites too. We should drop off some of our warriors there, I’m sure they’ll appreciate the shore leave.”
“… and we’ll free up the ship,” Asmunikal completed.
“Brilliant,” Muwatalli said. “We shall do just that.”
“And while we’re at it,” Asmunikal interjected. “We should check out the city ourselves. Melia told me that she had a good time.”
“Right,” Rick said. “I just saw shark girl running past me earlier, she had a bunch of things with her too.”
As he said this Rick looked at Muwatalli, his expression unamused.
“What?” Muwatalli said defensively. “I was simply helping her out with gathering… I mean, shopping.”
***
In the familiar aquarium at the lower decks of the Star Surfer, Turtey the Aquaean Sea Turtle rested on the rock in the right corner; with the kelp covering it to provide shade, it was his favorite resting spot whenever Melia did not need him to do battle. But his relaxation was interrupted by a pair of fish swimming by, red and blue in color.
Thought slightly annoyed, the turtle remained unflappable. As it exited the kelp, it headed towards another rock, a rather recent addition. Except that an eel was already occupying it.
Now Turtey turned around, just in time to see Melia, in her hands were more sea plants.
“Isn’t it great, Turtey?” the Shark Princess said. “Abel and Nia got me these new plants and friends at the market. And they said King Horus is paying for them all.”
Turtey growled, not quite with disappointment but rather a feeling of reluctant acceptance of the fact that he now had to share the aquarium with other animals.
***
Once peace had been established in Ra, it did not take long before life returned to normal for the inhabitants. With the threat of Cain’s airships and soldiers now gone, hawkmen began filling up the skies; markets and public spaces were now full off people engaging in commerce and leisure.
The Osiris Market, the largest market in Ra if not on all Kruptos, was one such place. Hawkmen walked and flew past the skies in large numbers, and even lionmen and Cainites could be seen.
It was in an open air cafe that Abel and Nia sat down, respective drinks in hand. Both relaxed as they felt the fresh breeze of the floating city; at first, Abel had worried if any hawkmen might have felt resentful of his erstwhile alliance with Cain, if not with the killing of some of their own, but King Horus and Queen Claudia had assured him that the Hawk Tribe were men of truth and always knew how to look at the big picture. For the hawkmen, once a conflict ceased, that was the end of that. The people gawked at the two Earthfolks at first, but only because the natives had never seen a Sethite before.
With a glass of yellow drink in hand, Abel drank quietly. Nia, looking straight at her beloved, smirked.
“So Captain,” Nia said, breaking the comfortable silence. “What did you get?”
“Banana smoothie,” responded Abel. “What about you?”
Nia showed her purple drink. “This? Grape juice.”
“You got that last time.”
“No, I got sea grape juice last time.”
Abel narrowed his eyes. “And what, pray tell, is the difference?”
Nia slurped her drink. “There’s a difference… I think.”
Abel chuckled, Nia did as well, and soon the silence returned; Captain and Lieutenant, lovers, content with no more than each other’s company… and some drinks.
And when words returned once more, it was Abel who spoke,
“So Nia,” he began. “I talked to Horus about our situation. And I think I know where to go next.”
“Oh, really?” Nia said.
Abel nodded. “Yeah. He told me about the all-seeing eye.”
“You mean the symbol of Ra itself.”
“Yup. It’s supposed to represent the hawkmen’s ability to see everything going on around the planet. But Cain claimed otherwise, it was he who owned the all-seeing eye, so he told me back in the concentration camp.”
“O-okay? I honestly don’t follow, Captain.”
“Well you’ll love this, Lieutenant. Turns out there is a fifth tribe of Kruptos.”
Nia’s eyes widened. “A fifth tribe?”
“Horus told me this,” Abel said. “Further up in the sky, at the very edges of Planet Kruptos, the very electric fields that destroyed the first Star Surfer, there lives the Star Tribe.”
“The Star Tribe? That’s not an animal,” Nia said, frowning.
Abel shook his head. “No, because they’re not organic men. Not anymore. Legends has it that there was a group of Cainites who attempted to escape Kruptos, only to be absorbed into the electric sun and stars that made up the upper atmosphere of the planet.
“They now live up there, up in the stars, so called. The Lektros, they call themselves. And they control the entrance and the exit of this planet. The storms that cover what we thought to be Asteroid X was in truth a result of the electric channels that made up their transportation network.”
Nia smiled. “I see. So if we can make contact with them, then we might be able to negotiate the opening of Kruptos to the outside world.”
“… and thereby allowing us to call for help from the UEC, yes,” Abel completed. “There’s a problem, though.”
“Let me guess,” Nia said, frowning. “It’s Cain.”
“Yes,” responded Abel. “There’s an electric serpent up there, called Jormungandr. Cain had summoned it through a planetary ritual to keep the Star Tribe in check and perpetually in servitude.”
“So we must destroy Jormungandr like we did Kraken, huh?”
“Not the way I would put it. But, yes.”
“Then let’s do it,” Nia said, pumping up a fist. “Well… right after I finish my drink.”
Abel smiled, glad that Nia looked to be putting her harrowing ordeals behind her, and everyone else seemed to be having a good time too. Yet Abel thought of Thalya—thoughts which at this point he learned not to blurt out carelessly in front of Nia—and still remembered the image of the red-skinned princess helpless and unconscious in the arms of Captain Enosh as the Cainites made their extraction out of the Floating City.
Abel remembered the look of Nia back in the Royal Palace. She clearly wanted to say something, anything, to the woman who had captured her, delivered her to King Horus, and tried to kill her. Yet despite all that, Abel could not see any hint of anger or even resentment in her expression then.
What he saw was a question: why?
So Captain Ramsey knew; this was far from over. They all still had unfinished business: Jormungandr, Emperor Cain, and even Princess Thalya.
To be continued…
The saga continues.