Another explosion goes off, and another, then suddenly, hundreds. The sky is soon filled with smoke and debris blinding our path. Marcus pushes the ship forward. We dive down the large mountain, passing through the clouds at breakneck speeds. A attempt to hold my breath and the sense of weightlessness overtakes me. The feeling of being pushed forward and pulled back by the gravity of the planet and the speed of the ship disorientates me, before he finally levels the ship, and we fly low to the ground.
As I gather myself, I take a look around us. There were no ships around us and are quickly leaving the city. Where we are going, I don't know but Marcus remains silent as we fly. Soon we pull up, and through the clouds into the sky. We pass through the atmosphere and arrive in space, where a ship awaits us. I can't tell what it is. The only reason I know its a ship is by the silhouette it leaves from the sunlight and the stars it blocks behind it. All of its lights are off. It absolutely don't want to be known.
Two lights appear in the back of the ship and a hanger bay door opens between them. Marcus cuts off the engine, and drifts inside. The door as quickly as it opens, closes behind us. He brings down the landing gear touches down.
"Where are we?" I ask
He still doesn't answer, instead he exits from his seat and walks toward the door.
"Follow me." He says.
I leave my seat and stand behind him as the door slowly opens. Two armed men stand on the other side of the ramp as it expands toward the bottom. Both soldiers turn toward me, then to Marcus.
"It's time." He says.
"Understood. Follow us ma'am." one of them says.
We walk toward the far end of the hangar. The hangar itself is clean, and organized. The walls were a clean metallic color, barred of any personality. Several small motorized vehicles pass by us, heading in every direction but where we are going. Multiple ships are parked along the ends of the walkway, though I don't recognize any of the models. They are armed in every way possible. I notice one being opened up as we walk by. It's hard to tell, but I get the faintest sense that they are pulling out a cloaking generator.
"What is this place?" I ask Marcus again. He still says nothing.
We exit the hangar through the door ahead and enter a room just to my left. As we enter inside, I notice a couple of familiar faces. Captain Lewis is first to be seen. He doesn't smile as I enter, he just looks at me and nods. A man approaches me next. He smiles from end to end, like we have met before. He acts as if I were some long lost friend as he reaches out his hand. He wore a tight black uniform, decorated with service medals on both his chests. The seams of his uniform glow white like mine, though his were a bit more pronounced. His dark complexion and nearly balding hairline fought hard against the white light as it beamed into the room. I know him.
"It cant be." I said.
"Hey kid. Long time no see." He says
"Phoenix?"
"How are you doing?"
"The hell is going on?" I ask, turning my attention to everyone else in the room.
No one says a word.
"Demi, I can explain." Phoenix says.
"What is there to say? You lied to me? All of you did."
Marcus enters the room and closes the door behind. I can't even look at him. He stands by the door and takes a deep breath, but he doesn't say anything.
"And you." I said, turning my attention to him. "How long did you know about this?"
"I only recently found out about this." he says
"So I was the only one left out of the loop on this? Why did no one tell me?"
"Because we needed you to stay on task." A voice says through the intercom.
"What? Who is that?"
"Sit down, Demi!" Another voice says.
"Who is there?"
Two men appear on the screen against the wall. I recognize them both. The older man on the left sat in a large chair and a black suit. The man on the right, sat at his desk. A picture of his family is placed on his right and a large cup of tea sits on his left.
"Admiral Han? Ambassador Harrison?"
"Hello Demi." Harrison says, "Good to see you made it out alive."
"What is going on?" I ask.
"Its time we tell her gentlemen." Han says, before taking a sip of tea. Phoenix approaches the table and takes a seat.
"King Alex, was under the impression that someone was planning to kill him. We know that its deep in his circle, but we don't know where."
"So you suspect the princess."
"No."
"No?"
"I does head in her direction, but it we are missing key information. Information that she alone knows. The hope was she would share that information to you."
"And you didn't tell me this because...?"
"You have seen her outbursts." Harrison says, "Her violent tendencies. Its only a matter of time until someone important in her inner circle is killed."
I quickly glance away, thinking of Stella and her lifeless body as it hit the ground. Marcus picks up on it quickly.
"Soul didn't tell me. Someone did die, didn't they?" He asks.
All eyes turn to me.
"She...she killed Princess Stella."
No one says a word. not even the hum of the ships engines could fill the void of the silence in the room.
"Shit." Lewis says. "Shit!"
"Ok. This accelerates the timeline a little." Harrison says, trying to gather his thoughts.
"It's not a little, it's a lot! This changes everything! The girl is crazy. I told you that bitch is crazy! We should have nuked her from orbit!"
"Calm down Lewis!" Han yells.
"I fucking told you this would happen!"
"I said calm down! Leave the room and cool off!"
"Sir?"
"Go!"
He stops and looks around. He then grunts and storms out the room. Han takes a deep breath and continues.
"We need time to discuss this. We'll reconvene in an hour."
As the screen shuts off, the three of us leave the room. The silence between us becomes the only thing left as the door shuts behind us. We have a lot to talk about.