chapter 1 – War of the galaxy

Chapter 1 – The Hitchhiker

Somewhere deep in outer space

The spacecraft was cruising at an optimum pace, through the vast expanse of space. It had been a day since he departed Moon. For the past one hour, Moonking had put the craft on autopilot and was napping.

His immediate stop was the planet Mars. Even though, his destination was Jupiter, it was not easy for a normal CLASS 2 soldier like himself to commit interplanetary travel of such distance. One has to be a CLASS 8 or higher, to travel planets uninterrupted. Moonking had to move from one planet to the another. Every planet has a SPACE PORT, filled with customs officials and securities. In recent years, the checkings have become more intense, because of the threat of surprise attacks by the rebels organization.

A recurring beep sound emerged from the navigation console of the spacecraft, which woke up Moonking. Within moments, he resumed control of the ship and steered it towards the now near Mars Space Port. He received a message from the port asking him to identify himself. He pressed the audio button and said into the mic, ” Moonking. On special duty from Her Majesty. Soldier. Class 2″.
He was soon alloted a strip to land his craft and after sometime, he found himself at the lobby waiting for immigration.

The officer reviewed his official papers issued to him by the Headquarters at Earth. After being cleared, Moonking was given an dust resistant suit and other necessary equipments to aid him in his stay on Mars.

He moved out of the port, only to be met with a hot gust of wind and dust. Mars was practically a desert planet, with not an ounce of water. When the first humanoids came to Mars, the terrestrials were a primitive race. The Martians looked a lot different than the humanoids.Unlike humanoids they looked taller and leaner. Future medical research would reveal that they had only the bare minimum of organs, necessary for survival. Moreover, there was no development of any sort on the planet. It proved to be very easy for the humanoids to colonise Mars. Humanoids taught the Martians to work in the mines.

Because of the thin atmosphere and its close proximity to the Sun, the Mars was not easily inhabitable to the humanoids. Hence only a handful of humanoids settled here, most of them being researchers and soldiers assigned to protect the research facilities. But the terrain was rich in minerals and the naive Martians provided good labour. And in a span of 25 Earth years, humanoids had completely tamed Mars. From then onwards, interplanetary expansion took place from Mars. In this way, everytime a new planet is colonized, the cost of travelling from Earth to that planet is saved, thereby making future expansion easier.

Now he had to reach the MARS RESEARCH CENTRE, set up at 500 kilometers from the port. Since he had no personal vehicle, he had to hitchhike with someone who went towards his destination. He checked his map and started walking towards east.

It had been a long time, since he left the port. Unlike Earth, which is cramped with buildings and settlements, Mars was deserted as far as he could see. Because of the abundant landmass and sparse population, the settlements were so far and few in between.

On one of the occasions, he would turn around to look for vehicles, he saw a DESERT HOVER coming from afar. He stood by and waved his hands to catch the driver’s attention. The rover was old and rusty, but seemed to run well. Fortunately, the driver seemed to have noticed him and the rover slowed down.Obviously, the vehicle must be owned by a humanoid. Because, the martians were not allowed to drive or own any kind of vehicle.

In a few moments, he was seated inside the rover comfortably.

” So? What did you say your name was? “, asked the man.
” I am Moonking. And you?”
” Mine’s Rogere Bear. So you are a bastard, ah? “, said Rogere.
People like me, who do not know their father, were not given proper humanoid names, like Rogere’s.
Mostly Moonking was not embarrassed by this, but the rude manner of Rogere’s question put him off. But he had to get to the MARS SPACE RESEARCH CENTRE soon.
“Yes sir. I don’t know my ancestry. “, replied Moonking, politely.
Rogere then offered him a cool beer, but Moonking declined. He was in no mood to drink with this man.
They sat in silence. As the rover sped on its way, Moonking saw a lot of martians walking on the roadsides. The martians body was made of a jell like substance, that was flexible but durable. The average martian grew upto 8 ft tall. Their eyes were covered by a three layered skin protecting it from dust storms.

Occasionally, Rogere would throw an empty beer can on the passing martians, evoking angry shouts from them. Even though, his behavior irritated him, Moonking bit his teeth and remained silent. Then the road split into two ways. Towards the right was Moonking’s destination, and Rogere was supposed to go left. In fact, he was glad that he could shrug Rogere off.

He saw Rogere’s hover move far way in the distance. Moonking guessed that he must be one of the soldiers posted in Mars. Contempt for the martians was common among the soldiers of the Martian Project. According to one of Earth’s worst kept secrets, a Mars Research Centre was built by completely annihilating a tribe of Martians, who were settled at the proposed site. There were almost 7 Research Centres on Mars and two more are under construction right now. Moonking wondered, which among those advanced centres were built on the blood of these primitive martians. Unbeknownst to him, it was the one he was currently heading to.

Since, the solar day of the Earth and Mars are almost the same, Moonking calculated he had approximately 2 more hours to reach the centre before nightfalls. Roaming out in the open was inadvisable on this planet. Ferocious flesh eating creatures came up from underground during nighttime, that even the native martians ran for cover.

After hours of travel, he neared the research centre just in time. Sun was about to set and in the twilight, Moonking could see both of Mars’ moons. Phobos and Daimos.

Chapter 6 – Secret Meetings

The alleyways kept getting crowded as he climbed down the levels. In level 17, the crowd was particularly high. He moved away from the stairs and went to find the reason. It did not take him much time. This level was filled with shops and stalls selling anything that can be sold.

Ranging from clothes to jewels, one can buy anything from here as long as you have the money. Central city had 3 levels for traders and buyers, and this one was the highest. Meaning, this one was the costliest. Only the people, whose sons and husbands had high paying jobs in the Republic can afford to buy products from this level.

He strolled through level 17 for some more time, looking at people’s faces. No two faces were alike.
The marketplace was filled with humanoids, beings from Saturn and even some from Neptune.

Arjun looked at them, with a mix of pride and contempt, knowing that they would all be his subjects very soon. He leaned on a pillar watching people scamper for sometime. He had to be at a meeting someplace else, but since it wouldn’t be very princely to be punctual, he chose to be late.

To completely circle the level and return back to the staircase that he came from would take days or even weeks. So, he took one of the stairs nearby and resumed his descent.

As he kept descending, he came very close to the Earth Space Port. Several spacecrafts were docked in the port. Some were getting ready to leave. As the space port was built over the sea, Qwaks flew on top the ships, often pooping on them and the men. The white feathered bird was a nuisance to the port workers. In the distant sea, Arjun saw a huge launchpad being cleared and in the distant space he saw a spaceship moving towards the port.

Since it was miles in the sky, Arjun couldn’t identify its sigil.
He kept climbing down.

At level 25, he met PABLO. The fool waved at him from a distance. Arjun bit his teeth and smiled at him.
“Been waiting for you a long time man”, said Pablo as Arjun continued walking. Pablo caught up to him, expecting an apology.
“Have they arrived? “, said Arjun simply.
“Yes man. They are waiting for you”
Good, thought Arjun.
“Hey Loki, do you have any money for me man?”, began Pablo. He was not aware who his friend truly was. Arjun gave him a false name when he befriended him. The fool would get a heart attack if he knew, his friend Loki was really The President’s nephew.
“I am short of charges. My boss fired me again. I did nothing wrong, you know”, blabbered Pablo.
This was usual in Pablo’s life. He was a drug addict who lived in the lower levels. He seldom contributed to the Republic. It was a miracle he was not kicked out to the favelas yet. But Arjun realised how to put him to good use. Unlike himself, Pablo was born and brought up in the lower levels of the city. He knew the place like the back of his hand. He had even been to the ghettos. He knew every lowlife ranging from dacoits to rapists, but most importantly mercenaries.

Reluctantly, Arjun let Pablo lead the way. The low levels were full of dark corners filled with people lying on the roadsides. The sewage smell was nauseating to Arjun, but Pablo felt nothing.

They turned into one of the tunnels and Arjun realised they have reached the meeting place. From within the darkest corner of the tunnel, Sayeed emerged into the fading sunlight.

Arjun conveyed his salutation, by raising both his hands to his chest and pressing his palms with each other. Since this was the customary humanoid salutation, Sayeed did the same.

“Did you find it? “, began Arjun.
The man stammered a bit, before replying
” No sir. My men are looking for it. If it is still on Mars, we would have found it by now”
“And the spy?”, persisted Arjun without cutting him any slack. He already knew the answer. But he asked eitherway.
“He escaped. That’s for sure. But we don’t know if he had the device in his hand, when he left the quarters”
“So… we won’t know anything until we find him. Right? “
” As I said before, it is possible that the device was destroyed in the explosion. My men used powerful Cryonitrate. You should have seen the place. I am sure the device is a 1000 pieces now”, replied the man, not at all sure.
Arjun easily sensed this before replying, “I don’t care what you are sure about. Either find the device or KILL THE SPY”
Pablo, who was standing far away from the two men, turned around by Arjun’s sudden outburst. But he didn’t come near to them and stayed where he was. Even Pablo has a few manners, thought Arjun.
“I need some extra money to continue the assignment”, said the man.
“How much? “
“100, 000 charges. Two of my men are dead. I need to give some to their families.”
“Okay. You will have it in your account by tonight.”

The meeting was over. They exchanged salutations again and parted ways. The man stayed somewhere in the lower levels but Arjun had to reach the Palace at the top.

The climb up is always harder than the climb down.

Chapter 8 – Neon Lights

The Prime Minister accompanied by his entourage made his way through the palace corridors to the main hall. Isai moved fast and his followers hurried to keep up with him. The tall neptunian towered over his humanoid companions. Officers coming towards them along the corridor automatically made way for the Prime Minister to pass. They obviously didn’t want to risk displeasing him.

Having arrived on Earth only that evening, he had been busy in his office clearing up accumulated office work. Recently, he had taken up the portfolios of nuclear research and atomic energy in addition to already held ones like defense and mining. He sanctioned the 3 million charges needed for rebuilding battle stations in Jupiter and delegated the sanitation revamping to the Minister of Internal Affairs. He knew the minister would not be amused on being disturbed after work hours, but as usual he didn’t care. As the work was about to be completed, he got a message from the President, summoning him to the main hall.

And so, the Prime Minister entered the main hall and moved towards the President. She was standing by the window looking over the city. Her faithful companion Parvati was lying at her feet. The neon lit city looked even more beautiful at night.

If not for his secretaries, she would never have noticed him come.

He saw her turn towards him.
“Prime Minister”, she began with a nod.
“Your Majesty. Hope I doing well are you”, began Isai in his broken Earthen language.
“I am doing fine thank you. But are you well? I did not see you in the court this morning “
“Dying were vegetations in Planet Mercury. Water sufficient was not being transported. Stranded were the aqua carriers near the asteroid belt. Issue sorted out. All is well now, Your Majesty”, replied Isai.
The booming monotone voice of the neptunian echoed across the hall.
“All is well, is it? What about the rebellion? Have you sorted it out as well? “, asked Jyoti icily. Parvati let out a low growl. The frightened PM’s secretaries took a step back. But the emotionless minister continued, “Not yet, Your Majesty. But we will soon”. He could not grasp the chillness in her voice.
“Have you seen my nephew today? “
The intelligent neptunian fumbled not quite understanding the meaning of the word ‘nephew’.
From behind him the humanoid translator came forward and whispered something to his shoulders.
He betrayed no emotion on hearing that name. It was important not to let Jyoti know what he was thinking.
“No. I haven’t seen him since yesterday”, replied the Prime Minister with a straight face.
The President studied him for a moment before turning her back on him. He understood that the meeting was over. The entourage made its way back the same way it had come.

It was midnight before Isai entered his chambers. His work was completed for the day. His bedroom was dark and the only source of light came from the neon advertisement board placed outside. It oscillated between red and purple neon lights, which flooded his bed and the walls. In that light, Isai saw a silhouette standing at a corner of his room. It was neither the silhouette of an animal nor that of an assassin. It was Arjun. The nephew.