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Chapter 66: A Whole New World
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The technical noises started and everyone apart from her seemed unfazed. The engine roared and the ship shook and rattled. Ellis watched Nin in amazement as she swayed with the motion of the ship to stay upright, as perfectly balanced as she was on the ground.
And then Ellis could feel the lift-off. She slammed back against the seat, a giant, invisible force pinning her down. She tried to lift one of her fingers but didn’t have enough strength.
And then the rattling stopped. The roar of the engine died down to a soft hum. Logan clicked open parts of Ellis’s harness so she could move her heads and hands. She relaxed a little. “You won’t want to get up. The weightlessness can make you feel disoriented.”
“Is there a window?” Ellis asked.
Logan reached down and pushed a panel. Beneath it was a tiny porthole, Ellis peered out into the empty blackness, littered with glittering stars. She saw Zothea and was staggered by
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Nin acted as their taster, despite Ellis's reluctance. The President looked offended, but Logan insisted. Just like the Kolns at home, Nin placed the food in her palm before eating it, but unlike the Kolns, she could eat vegetables, though Ellis might have gotten a small, vicious pleasure out of making Cecilia taste them for her.Ellis only picked at her food, listening as Logan and the President struggled to make polite conversation. Ellis had never been one for small talk, so she couldn't think of anything to contribute. Ellis knew the President's name was Abe, but he never gave them leave to use it, so they were forced to refer to him by his title, making the conversation even more stilted and formal.The President, it seemed, enjoyed gambling and had just invited them to a bout the next evening. Ellis didn't hear Logan’s reply over the pounding of her heart.The meal finally ended, but instead of rising to leave, the President clapped his hands. A grou
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“He essentially said that if I had sex with him, he would go along with our proclamations without a fuss.” She hung her head.Logan jumped to his feet, a ferocious growl ripping from his throat, murder in his eyes. He charged for the door but Ellis grabbed his tail, clinging to the swaying bed. “Don’t!”“How dare he? Let go of my tail, Ellis,” he snarled.“No, Logan. You’ll make things worse. You’ll play into their plans. Let’s just go home, okay?” she pleaded with him. “He wants you to attack him, to give him an excuse to cause you trouble. Cecilia tried to set me off over abusing her Koln and Abe would try to enrage you by propositioning me.”Logan froze and she could see him thing carefully. She dropped his tail. “You are right.” He cupped her face in his palm, stroking his thumb over her cheekbone. “What would I do without you?”“Do
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“Take the children and go to the basement,” he commanded Ellis. He was already punching buttons on the communicator.“I’m coming with you.”“No, you’re not,” Logan retorted. “It is not safe. Please… I won’t be able to keep my mind on the fight unless I know you are safe. Nin?” he glanced up.“The Emperor is correct,” Nin spoke, oddly calm. “You must stay here where we can protect the children.”Yes, Ellis sank. She had to protect the children.Logan was speaking frantically into the communicator. “We’re under attack. Launch everything. It if flies, it needs to be in the air.”Another explosion. This time, it was in the opposite direction.Laurel ran to the window. “It’s the space port!”Leo and Dorian ran through the connecting closet into their apartment. Ellis could see them head directly and pe
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Understanding and shock dawned in Laurel’s eyes. “Ellis…” she whispered.Ellis tried to smile.“What about you?” Tears streaked Laurel’s face.“There’s another pod on the other wall,” Ellis lied. “Just go.” She suddenly understood what Logan had felt when he demanded she go to the underground city.She shoved Laurel toward the pod and heaved her up inside of it. Laurel began to fasten the restraints as Ellis scooped the babies up, tarp and all, kissing each one before she dropped them in Ellis's lap and covered them with a pillow. Then she pulled the hood down and snapped it shut. She stepped back, giving Laurel a little wave, hoping Laurel couldn't see the tears in her eyes, and hit the launch button with the palm of her hand. The pod shot up the track so fast that it seemed to simply disappear.The pod was designed to fly on autopilot to the space port in orbit above Zothea.
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She gave a sideward glance at Ellis and then walked away behind the creature. Ellis knew that Nin would fare better if she didn’t need to protect Ellis. She could finish off these things and then come back to her side.Ellis crouched down beside Leo, trying to shake him awake. Despite multiple times, he could only open his glazed eyes and babble.“Ellis,” he whispered. “You have to go.”“I can’t leave you here!” she said. She glanced up and saw the reflection of the flames was closer.“You have to! Logan—”Ellis shook her head and said nothing."Glad I... didn't win you," Leo said. "Empire… needed you ... more."“Please try…” she whispered.“Done for…” he said, closing his eyes. “to be safe.”Ellis nodded. “I promise. I will be safe.”“Thank…”She waited,
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Ellis flipped over and jumped to her feet, but sank again when all her strength went out of her limbs at the sight in front of her.The city was in ruin, a tangled mass of blackened rubble. She pushed herself to her feet and turned in a circle, no idea where she was.There were no landmarks she recognized. She could even tell where the streets had been. She should be able to see the temple: the tunned had seemed endless but it wasn’t that far.Her mind flashed to Micheal and Isabella and she gasped. What had happened to them?What kind of weapon had done this? Zothean aircrafts were armed with ammunition to blow up asteroids and protect their ships but this was something different.Zotheans didn’t have nuclear weapons. But she couldn’t think of anything else that could cause such destruction. Was she absorbing radiation and being cooked inside out? She hoped she didn’t find out.She shivered in the icy wind, her cloth
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Logan put out an announcement that tonight would be a state dinner and so the temple dining room was packed with people, all of them speculating as to the cause. He and the empress rarely had them and when they did it was usually for a special announcement. The last had been to announce the empress was expecting Prince Edward and the one before that, to announce that Nessie was being appointed to the emperor's Council.Izzy ate mechanically. She wasn't hungry, but Aunt Cristine was right: she had to make sure the baby got what it needed. Drake was alight with excitement and impatient for the meal to end. The entire extended family was seated around the table, all of them wearing their finery. Her mother wore the glow stone tunic she'd worn to her own mating ceremony and Aunt Laurel was dressed in a purple tunic so bright that it hurt the eyes to look at it. Leo kept flirtatiously tickling Cristine's neck with his tail and then looking away innocently whenever she looked up fr
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