A Prince Among the Ranks

"Are all the passengers accounted for and secure?" I asked one of our officers.

"All but two sir, Gandra and Kantra from L--"

"They're fine, we have them. Go check all the windows and doors and can someone get me a visual on the screen in the dining area please?" Diona shouted as she headed towards that way.

"I'm heading up to the observation deck, Do."

"See if we can't catch this thing before it gets on board, Romar."

"On it." I quickly made my way to the top of the ship where the observation deck was. The deck was much like a Navy submarine, high tech gadgets, dim lights, a lot of people in uniform and headsets talking in many different languages. But all I needed was someone to speak to me in one. "Talk to me boys, what's going on?"

"Unknown carrier off the port bow, Sir. It looks almost alien."

"Alien? Someone get me a picture same with the dining room. General Diona is looking for some information as well as she keeps our crew calm and collect. Let's move it people. Someone get me audio down there and see if we can't get the ship to receive a message."

"Yes, sir." A man said to me as he started hitting buttons I couldn't even begin to understand. The screen above me split into two parts. One was my sister and the other was a fuzzy screen. "This is Romtan Romtan Tonlart 993, please respond." Silence. "This is--" The language that cut him off was something I had never heard before.

"Someone get me a translation!" I ordered.

"Where's Gintar?" Diona asked. She was our linguistics major.

"He's speaking too fast!" She shouted from behind me before speaking the language to the screen. The voice slowed down and Hanta Gintar began to type what he said in Cirian. It read, "We are meaning you no harm. We hit you but we are quickly changing course. Our apologies, Romtan Romtan Tonlart 993. Please, we are meaning you no harm." I stared at the message then looked at Diona. We had the same thought.

"Tell him we don't mind, Gintar." She nodded and quickly spoke to the man. I walked over to the door and grabbed one of the men I knew was in charge of the crew. "Send out a search party to check all floors for possible intruders." I walked over to another kid and whispered to him, "I want all scans of this ship shown to my sister. I want to know how bad we were hit. Get someone out there to repair it." Soft, "yes sirs" were heard and I headed out to check on Gandra and Kantra.

When I walked into the office, I found Claunan and Panrac talking with Gandra while she pet Kantra's hair. I nodded to the two elders and they rose to their feet and walked over to me.

"I think something may be wrong," I said to them in Gerantan. "I'm going to need you two to check out a few of the cabins while I stay here with these two." They nodded and bid goodbye to the girls.

"Is everything alright?" Gandra asked me.

"Almost there. Just making sure everyone's safe and nothing was damaged. We hit another carrier but we should be fine." Gandra nodded and started to say something before the lights went out. I scowled. I knew something was wrong. I let my hand fall on Gandra's shoulder. "You two are going to hide here. I'll be back." I walked over to the edge of the room and grabbed a weapon I really didn't like to use. Then again, I didn't have much occasion to use it.

"Is something wrong, Romar?"

"Nothing I can't fix, Gandra. I'll be back. Keep tight." She nodded and I walked out of the room to find Diona.

"I am just south of your office. Some of the men were talking about a hole in the bow. I was on my way there before the lights went out."

"There might be someone on this ship. You think we should lock down the rooms?"

"Already did it. You and I will check out some of the places they might be, starting with my office."

"And the fourth level?"

"They've got it under control for now. We'll have to check on them after we get this level done. I sent a team to the first, third and fourth level so we just need to get this done."

"I'm right in front of you," I said as I stopped my movements.

"Then who's still walking?" Good question. The sound of metal clanging was something that made my spine tingle.

"You got the present Father gave us a while back?"

"Do you?"

"Of course. I just wanted to make sure my sister isn't slipping up." I could feel her smile, even if I couldn't see her. I felt the weapon tingle in my hand before it grew to full length. The soft sound of a whoosh meant hers had done the same thing. "I'm going to head back to the girls. Follow after slowly. Don't want to spook him." Her silence was all I needed. I walked to the office and opened the door slowly before walking in. "Kantra?" She touched my leg and I smiled. "I'm going to have you and your sister move ok? We're going to go to a place that's safer than here."

"Are we taking them--"

"I'll lead, you cover back ok?" She didn't object. "Grab your sister, Kantra. We need to get moving now."

"What about the rest of the ship?" she asked.

"Just stick with us. They're fine." I lied as I moved to the door. Gandra and Kantra were sticking close to me and Diona and they were terrified. I could hear it in their hearts. They were beating so loud I was sure whatever was in the ship heard it too. We moved through the ship slowly and carefully until we got to one of the biggest rooms on the ship; the captain's deck on the fourth floor. The captain of our flight was still flying but the whole operation was slowed. A couple of sirens were going off and I heard Kantra ask for help. "Diona, get something to stop these sirens. Check the crew. Kantra, I'm going to bring you to the chairs and then I'm going to check a few things out ok? You need to be a big girl and make sure your sister is safe and sound on the couch." She replied in a brave tone and I nodded. We were in business. I moved through the room until I found the seat by way of my knee and put my hand on Kantra's shoulder. She sat down, as did Gandra, and I made my way over to Diona.

"We're falling."

"Falling? What do you mean by that?"

"Falling, Romar. Falling the act of gravity pulling something to the center of our planet. Falling. We need to get some power back on this ship or it will kill all of us." Something crashed in the room and we both jumped. "You heard that?"

"You head towards the door, I'll check on the girls." We split up and by the time I got to the girls, the moon had finally showed up. What the hell? I glanced at the girls and then at the room. My sister's scythe gleamed in the moonlight, along with the sword I was carrying. I looked around and my eyes caught Diona's. I glanced at the men working but found their shadows were gone. "Diona, what happened to the men?" A rich voice started to speak and I winced. I wish I understood what he was saying! "I have no clue what you're saying! Speak Cirian if you want to taunt us."

"Oh, but it's so trivial. Our language is far superior."

"And where do you come from?" Diona asked.

"Same place that you do, Princess."

"Princess? I think you're looking in the wrong worm hole." My sister said as she shook her head and started forward. His voice came from all around.

"My sister and I aren't royalty. We protect royalty."

"Oh, my Prince, you are wrong. You belong to us."

"We were born--"

"In a place and time far away from this one. That's how you can use our weapons." I sneered and walked forward, Diona following after me. I glanced at her, holding the scythe over her shoulders. "Have you seen your hair, Prince? You are not born from here. Have you seen your eyes, Princess? Your eyes are not normal. These two females are like you. Like me. You are all royalty."