Royal Hearts (20 page)

“I think you did the right thing,” her mother
said. “After everything you told me about William, he sounded like
bad news.”

“Lisa still doesn’t like him. Carson told
Lisa that William was sorry for showing up like he did yesterday,
but she can’t get rid of the creepy feeling she has about him. I
have to admit that there is something about him that bothers me,
too.”

“That is a feeling you should always listen
to,” her father said before taking another bite of his ham and
cheese sandwich.

“Did Lisa tell you what she thought about
Hathor?” her mother asked.

“She didn’t get to talk to him, but she liked
what she saw. She was impressed with how well he handled himself
when William showed up. And besides, I’d decided last night that
I’d rather be with him than William anyway, so she just confirmed
what I was thinking.”

“I think our daughter is showing wise
judgment,” her mother told her father.

“I didn’t raise a fool,” he replied.

“Anyway,” Ann began, “I need to go to
Teresa’s to study for the English Lit test we have tomorrow, and I
would like to stop by and see Hathor on my way home.”

“That’s fine, as long as you’re home by six,”
her father said.

“Thanks! I’ll see you then.”

She grabbed her class notes and ran out of
the house. As she pulled the car out of the driveway, the music was
interrupted by a special announcement. She groaned. Why did this
have to happen during her favorite song?

“Earlier today, Alexander Napoli, the leader
of the United Nations, made an important announcement that’ll
affect everyone,” the radio announcer reported.

Then the voice on the radio switched to a
man’s that Ann recognized as being Alexander Napoli. “We must do
everything we can to unite this world. We need to resolve our
cultural, political, and religious differences in order to thrive.
That is why I’m proposing something that will enable us to live in
unity on this fine planet. I’m sure some will be hesitant to move
forward, but I assure you, progress is nothing to be afraid of.

“We must do everything we can to unite this
world, to keep it safe from terrorists. That is why I’m proposing
something that will enable everyone to live in unity. Everyone must
be willing to put aside their differences for the greater good.
That is why I’m proposing the Peacekeeper. It’s a chip that will be
used to track down anyone who wishes to disrupt the peace, thereby
harming innocent people. These chips will be available to the
general public in a couple of days. I urge everyone to accept the
implant.”

Implant? As in putting something in her? Was
that what the chip was for? It sounded more like a tracking device
than something meant to keep people safe.

She recalled who Alexander Napoli was from
her teacher’s discussion about him in her Current Events class. She
never imagined that he would play such a dominant role across the
world. For sure, she never suspected that his influence would reach
her on a personal level. She wondered if anyone else would feel the
same way she did. Would she be forced to take this chip, or would
it be voluntary?

For the first time since she’d heard about
Alexander Napoli, she began to give his presence on Earth more
thought and importance.

***

Six years in the past

William’s House

Planet: Earth

William had called Carson and asked him to
come over to his house, but Carson wished he hadn’t done so as soon
as he saw his friend’s scowl.

“What’s wrong?” Carson asked, sure he didn’t
want to hear the answer.

William got up from his bed. “You know very
well what’s wrong.”

“How can I when you haven’t told me?”

“You want me to tell you? Fine.” He grabbed
Carson’s arm and pulled him further into his bedroom. Closing the
door, he turned to him. “I never thought you could be so
calculating and cold. All you care about is yourself. You wanted
Ann to pick Hathor over me. Well, your plan worked. She won’t go
out with me today. Are you happy now? Does it give you so much
pleasure to ruin my life?”

It took Carson a moment to find his voice. “I
have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“That innocent act won’t work with me. You
disgust me.” William grunted then paced back and forth in his
bedroom. “I told you to talk to Lisa. She was supposed to work
things out for me.”

“She said she was going to. You were with me
last night when I called her up to explain everything. You heard
what I said. I stuck up for you.” He paused and shook his head.
“Now I’m beginning to wonder if I should have.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’ve been a total jerk for the
past couple of weeks. You weren’t always like this. I don’t know
what’s changed, but suddenly, it’s like you think the world owes
you something. You expect everyone to fall in line and do what you
tell them to. Well, I got news for you. Life doesn’t work that
way.”

“Oh wonderful. Another lecture from Mr.
Perfect. You don’t know anything. You have no idea what’s at stake
here. Whether or not Ann likes me will determine my fate.”

“Oh come on.” Carson rolled his eyes. “Isn’t
that a little dramatic? If things aren’t working with Ann, you
should take time to examine what you did to mess it up. From where
I’m standing, I don’t blame her for not having anything to do with
you.”

Carson turned to leave. He couldn’t take
another minute of being around William. At one time, they had been
best friends. At one time, William was actually a decent
person.

“You’re not leaving until I say you can!”
William roared.

Before Carson had time to blink, William
shoved him into the wall, and he hit it head on. Pain shot straight
through his nose. He reached up to touch it and winced. Lowering
his hand, he saw the blood on his fingers. “What is your problem?”
he shouted.

William grabbed him by the shirt. “You are!
You’re trying to stop me from becoming the king of Raz!”

Before Carson could respond, William pushed
him so hard that he stumbled into the computer desk and fell to the
floor. A silver device fell next to him. Carson briefly noted it
before William grabbed him, making him stand up.

Furious, Carson swung to punch William in the
face but missed and tripped against the desk. He almost stepped on
the device, but William snatched it up. William examined it as if
worried it was broken.

“You seem awfully protective of that thing,”
Carson said.

“It’s none of your business. Get out of
here!”

Carson wasn’t going to argue with that. He
had no desire to talk to William anymore. As far as he was
concerned, this friendship was over.

Chapter Eighteen

Six years in the past

Outer space

Approaching Earth

Second Commander Jaz held her breath as Zeus
steered his spaceship towards Earth, concentrating on his entrance
into the atmosphere.

Ares typed something into the controls. “I
have successfully jammed the radars so we won’t be seen by anyone.
The first stage of war is to creep into the enemy’s territory
without being detected. Our greatest advantage is surprise.”

“We’re not trying to start a war. We’re
trying to prevent one,” Athena reminded him. “War is a last
resort.”

Ares rolled his eyes. “You take the fun out
of everything.”

Jaz took out her probe to find Queen Ann,
Hathor, and Omin’s clone. She frowned. “It looks like Omin’s clone
isn’t where Queen Ann and Hathor are.”

Apollo peered over her shoulder. “Oh yeah.
Omin’s clone is at the United Nations Headquarters. Queen Ann and
Hathor are in a place called Ohio.”

“I wonder why Omin’s clone hasn’t killed
Queen Ann and Hathor yet,” Guard Falon said. “You would think that
killing them would be his first priority.”

“I just tapped into one of the news stations
on Earth,” Athena said then, holding an earpiece up to her ear.
“There’s a report of a prominent leader who is gaining control over
various countries through his peace plan.”

“Why would he want to bring peace to this
place?” Jaz asked. “That doesn’t sound like something Omin would
have his clone do.”

“Unless it’s a trap,” Guard Lino said. “No
one would bother preparing a defense if he had nothing to
fear.”

Ares glanced at him. “Now that’s the kind of
thinking that will get you into my army.”

Jaz caught sight of a swarm of military
aircraft heading straight for them, and given the fact that she
didn’t recognize the design, they had to be from Earth.

“I thought you jammed their radars,” Apollo
snapped at Ares.

“I did! These controls are the best we have,”
Ares said.

“Unfortunately, they found us anyway,” Athena
added, although such an observation was unnecessary.

“Omin’s very clever,” Jaz said. “It’s not
surprising to find that his clone is just as smart.”

“How did he find us? Is Earth’s technology
that advanced?” Ares asked with an underlying hint of respect in
his voice.

“We’ve got to get out of this trap,” Zeus
said. “Ares, what’s our best course of action?”

“Open fire,” he replied. “When you’re backed
into a corner, you might as well defend yourself to the death.”

“Then we’ll be injured for sure,” Athena
argued. “And the Palers will die. I say we surrender, create
another plan, and follow it out when the time is right.”

“No way!” Ares shook his head. “That’s the
sissy way out.”

While the gods argued over the appropriate
action to take, Jaz picked up her telecommunicator and contacted
Leader Paff to notify him of the situation.

“We are almost ready to leave Pale,” Paff
said when she was done. “Do you think you will survive until we can
get there?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It all depends on
what Omin’s clone wants to do with us. He hasn’t even gone near
Queen Ann or Hathor yet, so I think our chances are good that he’ll
keep us alive…at least for now. He’s waiting for something. I
suspect that he won’t act until the time is right. You know how
Omin could hold his prisoners for days, or even months, when it was
in his best interest to delay an attack.”

“Yes. I remember his tactics all too well.
Make sure you have your emergency signal on so I can find you when
we get to Earth.”

“Will do. Second Commander Jaz out.” She
turned off the telecommunicator and activated her emergency signal.
“Leader Paff and his army will come to our rescue when they arrive
here,” she told the others.

Athena, Apollo and Ares stopped their arguing
for a moment to stare at her.

“Are you kidding me?” Ares asked. “It’s a
disgrace to get rescued without a fight. We should at least defend
ourselves against this tyrant clone and his army.”

“Easy for you to say,” Athena said. “You’re
immortal. They aren’t.” She pointed to the Palers.

Ares huffed. “And that’s my fault?”

“Look, it’s no use,” Zeus interrupted. “I ran
a scan on their equipment and these humans have superior weapons.
We aren’t as advanced in this area as they are.”

“So that’s it?” Ares asked, his eyes wide.
“We’re just going to give up without a fight? We’re not even going
to let them know that we object to their bullying?”

“Ares,” Athena began, “you need to remember
that in wartime, sometimes it’s best to hold off an attack until
the time is right. If we tried to fight them now, the only thing we
would accomplish is serious damage to this ship.”

He grunted and crossed his arms. “I can’t
believe this. Let’s just hand them everything they want.”

“Stop acting like a child!”

“Enough, you two,” Zeus intervened. “Now I
remember why I put your bedrooms on opposite sides of the Ivory
Palace.”

Ares frowned but kept silent.

“We’ve been ordered to surrender,” Athena
said as she listened to the transmission through her earpiece.

The group looked at each other.

Jaz didn’t relish the idea of seeing Omin’s
clone. It would be like seeing Omin all over again. She recalled
reading through his thoughts and memories. It was the only time she
had truly understood him, and she’d been utterly repulsed she could
have ever loved someone like that.

“When the time comes, we’ll act,” Zeus
assured them. “In the meantime, I’ll expect you to make several
plans of action, Ares.”

Ares was ready to make a clever retort, but
one look at Zeus’ stern expression silenced him. So instead, he
nodded and issued a surrender.

***

Six Years in the Past

Teresa’s house

Planet: Earth

When Ann arrived at Teresa’s house, Teresa
pulled her into the living room where her parents were mesmerized
by something they were watching on TV.

“You have to see this. Alexander Napoli is
amazing,” Teresa whispered.

Curious, Ann sat in one of the chairs and
turned her attention to the middle-aged, good looking man on TV.
The news station carried the footage of a speech he had made
earlier that day.

“Peace is a dream that has, until now, eluded
us,” Alexander was saying. “I want peace to continue, not just in
the Middle East, but all around the world. We have been at war with
one another long enough. With peace, we can accomplish great
things. We can eliminate poverty, starvation, and crime. Imagine
not having to lock your doors or carry a gun. Imagine knowing that
your children will be safe when they play outside.”

Ann blinked several times. Her eyes suddenly
felt heavy as she continued to focus on what he was saying.

“This is a dream that is close to coming
true. But I need the help of everyone on this planet. We must all
come together for the good of mankind,” he continued. “I have
created a tiny device that will make this dream possible.”