Richard: Federaton Attacks

Chapter 1

Brenda’s Unwelcome Surprise

Henry lay in his bed on Earth, staring at the ceiling in his parents’ basement. Brenda snored softly as she slept beside him. She was pregnant with twins, who were growing quickly.

She was due to be examined again on Krel and hoped Richard would take them there soon. When she and Henry had learned she was pregnant, they’d had no insurance or money for a doctor, so Brenda had asked Richard if he could take them to Krel to see a doctor there, and he’d agreed.

Henry had felt that something was wrong with Richard for the last day or so. He had tried to contact him by holding the crystal hanging around his neck. Richard wore an identical one.

These crystals were used for multiple purposes. For one, Henry’s memories and the things that made him who he was were stored in Richard’s crystal. He had Richard’s information in his. Henry’s crystal would communicate with Richard’s and pass Henry’s memories to him. That way, Richard knew what was happening with his life on Earth when he was in the kingdom.

Not long ago, Henry had been killed, but with the help of Richard’s crystal and DNA, the Maker had made another double of Richard and placed Henry’s consciousness into the new body.

Well, I’m alive, but what really happened to me? I mean, the me before I died? Am I really dead, and this is a new body with a new me in it? Or was the old me transferred into this new body?

No one had an answer for him.

Brenda stirred and snuggled against him. Opening her eyes, she kissed Henry’s bare chest. “Good morning, babe,” she said.

“Good morning,” Henry said distractedly.

She played with the hairs on his chest, then ran her hand down his belly. As she pulled the covers off him, Henry just stared at the ceiling. After climbing on top of him, she ran her tongue around his nipples. Henry kissed her forehead, but otherwise, he just lay there.

“Are you still worried about Richard?” she said.

“I’m not in the mood, babe. And yes, something is wrong. I can feel it.”

She rolled off him, got out of bed, and went to the laundry room, which was also their bathroom. Henry turned on his side and watched the doorway. He and Brenda would be living here until they could graduate high school.

Brenda’s parents had been killed in a car crash, and she only had one living relative, who lived in Australia. Her parents had taken out a ten-million-dollar life insurance policy. Money would not be an issue for her and Henry.

There’d been a court battle over the money with her uncle Fredrick. Since she was underage, he’d tried to force her to move in with him in Australia, where he’d intended to make her have an abortion. “When I get you back home,” he’d said, “I’ll find an old crone with a twig, and she’ll take care of the bastard inside you.”

Henry and Brenda had battled her uncle in court, but they only won with the help of AAL. Just as the judge had been about to award custody to her uncle, he’d looked at AAL, who’d simply nodded to him. The judge had blinked a few times and then awarded custody to Henry’s parents.

AAL did not like to change the minds of anyone on Earth, but he’d made an exception in this case.

After peeing, Brenda came back to the bed and climbed in.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Henry said as he watched her snuggle up to him. “I’m really worried.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

“Do you think the war is going bad for Richard?”

“I don’t know. That’s what worries me. Usually, I can feel a slight connection between us, but now…” Henry kissed the top of Brenda’s head. “It’s as if there is something, but it’s different somehow. It’s as if he is there, yet it’s not him.”

Brenda climbed on top of him again and rubbed her hips against his.

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” he said, then pushed his lips against hers.

“I want to distract you, honey.”

She tumbled off of him, and just as quickly, he was on top of her. He lowered his head between her breasts but stopped when he heard someone walk into the room.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw it was Amber. AAL was standing in the doorway. “Go ahead,” Amber said as she sat at the end of the bed. “AAL and I can wait.” She was not bothered by others mating before her. It was commonplace on her homeworld of Beowulf.

Rolling off her, Brenda quickly pulled the covers over them.

“AAL, can you please turn on the lights?” Henry said. “And why are you here? And where is Richard?”

“That is why we are here,” Amber said softly as she looked down.

“Has something happened to him?” Henry asked.

Amber wiped tears from her eyes. “He…” was all she could say.

“Is he all right?” Henry sat up straight, and the covers slid off him and Brenda.

“Henry!” she said as she covered herself.

“It would be best if I took you to see him,” AAL said.

“Give it to us straight, AAL,” Henry said with a little anger in his voice. “Has Richard been hurt?”

“He is all right, after a fashion,” AAL said.

“AAL!”

“Henry, please come with us,” said Amber. “It will be better if you see him for yourself.”

“Can you give us a few minutes so we can, ah, wash and dress?” Brenda said.

Henry’s eyes widened as clothing formed around him: blue jeans and a black t-shirt. He felt clean and fresh, like he’d just toweled off after a hot shower.

Brenda lifted the covers and saw she was also fully dressed, wearing tan slacks and a blue blouse. After exchanging a surprised glance, she and Henry climbed out of bed. They went into the TV room, now their living room, and slipped on their shoes.

Once the young couple was ready, Amber hugged them, and everyone disappeared.

***

The four appeared in a forest on the dragon’s planet. A light mist hung in the air. Henry looked up, and a second later, he tapped Brenda on her shoulder. She craned her neck to see what he was pointing at.

“Wow!” she said. “The trees are so tall and colorful.”

The trees towered five hundred feet into the sky and were a riot of color. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in their tops.

Brenda sniffed the air. “I have been on three planets, not including Earth, and each one smells different. This one smells like sulfur, but it is almost unnoticeable.”

“Ah, where are we, AAL?” Henry asked.

“Do you remember the dragon planet from Richard’s memories?”

“Yes. That is where he took Drake and his mate.”

Brenda let out a squeak as she grabbed Henry’s arm. He looked down at her, and she pointed past him.

In a large clearing lay a massive golden dragon with its wings folded against its long body. The dragon was over three hundred feet long from the end of its muzzle to the tip of its tail and had a mane of silky golden hair.

Henry gasped. “What the—”

“That is Richard,” Amber said as she took Brenda’s hand.

“Shit! What happened to him this time?” Henry said.

“Why did he change himself into a golden dragon?” Brenda asked.

“He did not change himself,” Amber said, wiping her tears away.

“Then how was he changed?” Henry asked AAL.

AAL knew, but he had been sworn to secrecy by the Amber from the previous universe. He would not meet Henry’s eyes.

“This, we do not know,” Amber said.

“Can’t he change back?” Henry asked.

Amber slowly shook her head.

“All right, Henry said as he took Brenda’s hand. “Let’s go talk to my brother.”

The group walked towards the forest’s edge.

They came out of the forest and strolled through the lush, green grass, tall enough to reach their knees. Richard had tucked his long neck against his body, and his head was turned away from them. As they neared him, they heard a deep rumble.

“What is he doing?” Brenda asked Amber.

“Crying.”

“Why?”

“Because I miss my family,” Richard said in his deep, hissing voice. He swung his head around, raised it high, and looked down at them. Henry and Brenda looked up at him with their mouths open.

“Impressive or scary?” Richard asked.

“Both, brother,” Henry said as Brenda hugged his arm. “And look at your horns!”

“Sweetheart,” Amber said, “we need to talk to you.”

“Do you have a way to change me back?” Richard hissed.

“Richard!” Amber placed her hands on her shapely hips. “I told you before to stop feeling sorry for yourself.”

“You do not have to live in a cave! You have a palace to live in.”

“Richard, please.”

Richard rose to his paws, roared, and breathed fire over their heads.

As Brenda buried her face in Henry’s chest, he embraced her tightly and glared at his brother.

“Richard!” Amber growled. “You frightened Brenda.”

“Yeah, and I nearly pissed my pants, brother,” Henry said.

“If AAL can’t change me back and I cannot come home, then why are you here?” hissed Richard. Without giving them time to respond, he reared up on his back legs.

“Wow!” Henry said as Brenda pressed her face against his chest.

Richard spread his wings and leaped into the air. The wind from their flapping almost knocked everyone over.

“Come with me,” AAL said to the others. “Richard’s temper tantrum will bring the other dragons. They will not be happy with our presence here.”

They disappeared.

***

AAL and the others appeared in the entertainment center in the underground complex on Earth. The complex was concealed deep within the Earth’s crust beneath the Atlantic Ocean, approximately a thousand miles off America’s East Coast. It was constructed around a deep shaft that plunged miles underground. Richard had often compared it to the complex in the movie Forbidden Planet.

The complex had been built by a race of beings who’d left the Milky Way over a million years ago. At first, it had been a convenient place for Henry to stay when Richard returned to Earth to visit his family. After the attack on the palace, it had become Richard and his family’s home. Now they used it as a safe place to just get away.

Henry, Brenda, and Amber sat at a table while AAL went to get them something to drink.

“Okay, AAL,” said Henry. “Do you want to tell us what is going on?” Brenda was shivering, so he pulled her to him.

“It is a long story,” Amber said.

“Does it have to do with the war?” Brenda asked as she held Henry tightly.

AAL came back carrying four cups of hot cocoa. Amber took hers gratefully and sipped from it. “In a way, yes,” AAL said.

“So, fill us in,” Henry said.

“It all started after Spartacus abducted Raider and Kit,” Amber said.

“Are they all right?” Brenda asked. “We have not heard anything about them. We have been so worried.”

“They are now. Richard was able to save our cubs.”

“What about Spartacus?”

“I killed him,” Amber said as she held her head high.

Brenda and Henry’s eyes went wide.

“It is the mother’s right to kill anyone who kills or even threatens her cubs,” Amber said.

“Richard went to the world of the air dragons to ask them for their help,” said AAL. “He had the idea that if enough of them attacked Aries Prime at the same time, it would create a distraction large enough for Amber and me to rescue the cubs.”

“And he was right,” Amber said, wiping her tears away.

“All right,” said Henry, “but why is he a dragon?”

AAL looked away, unable to answer.

“At first,” Amber said, “only Drake and Frostine would help. Richard asked Shenlong for the help of the air dragons. Shenlong was their leader. He refused.”

Amber took a moment to catch her breath and wipe her tears from her fur. Then she said, “As Richard begged Shenlong for help, he was engulfed by the planet’s energy. This energy turned Richard into the golden dragon you saw.”

“Okay,” said Henry, “but why can’t he turn himself back? He changed you and our niece and nephews into humans, and he changed himself into a black fox before.”

“And he changed you into a red fox, honey,” Brenda said.

“My love has lost all his powers,” Amber said and started to cry.

Brenda hugged her and said to AAL, “Can you change him back?”

AAL looked at the floor and slowly shook his head.

“I have tried,” said Amber, “but my powers could not touch him.”

“All right,” said Brenda. “So, why is Richard on…” She trailed off as she remembered the kingdom hated dragons because they’d once ruled the Milky Way with an iron-clawed fist. “But won’t they make an exception for their king?” she said softly.

Amber sat back and wiped the tears from the fur under her eyes.

“Their fear runs too deep,” said AAL, “and the citizens do not know Richard has been changed into a dragon.”

“All right,” said Brenda. “So, why did you bring Henry and me here?”

Henry felt he knew why—and that Brenda would not like the reason.

“I believe you know why, Henry,” AAL said.

“What does he mean?” Brenda asked as she looked up into Henry’s blue eyes.

***

Taking her hand, Henry looked down into her brown eyes and gave her a smile. “They want me to take Richard’s place as king, babe.”

In the Pleiades sector, Senator Warren sat in one of his shuttles as it left the planet’s atmosphere of the same name. He gazed out the porthole, lost in thought.

The shuttle could hold fifty people, but he and his servant were the only ones onboard.

Sitting in the row in front of Warren was his servant Chadwick, a gaunt man with a hawklike nose and a thin black line of hair that ran around his mouth and down to a pointed goatee. His right foot shook with nervous energy as he stared tensely at the seat in front of him.

Warren was dreading this trip, but it was necessary.

“Senator,” said the pilot, “we will be entering the shuttle bay soon.”

“Thank you.”

Looking out the front window, Warren smiled at the sight of his newest ship, a smaller version of the kingdom’s vessels. It also happened to be one of the fastest ships in the Federation.

When Richard had first come to the kingdom, he’d thought their spaceships looked like the ones in the television show Battlestar Galactica. The biggest difference was that, instead of the fighters landing on the sides of the ships, they docked in shuttle bays hanging beneath them. The bays took up to a quarter of the ships’ bellies and were positioned towards the front.

Warren wanted to get back to Aries Prime as fast as he could. Truthfully, he did not want to return to the Federation’s capital world ever again, but he needed to bring back proof to the Senate that Spartacus was dead and those snake dragon creatures had attacked the planet.

I’d hoped I’d never have to see the place again after watching Spartacus get killed in front of me by that fox creature, he thought with a shiver. But I must retrieve Spartacus’s body and give him a proper burial.

He also hoped he could find Spartacus’s grandmother’s body. She’d died in the castle, though; he did not know if he could find her. Not after that boy burned it down.

After the attack, Aries Prime had gone quiet. All the infrastructure had been destroyed, and countless people had been killed or injured. Spartacus had sent all the ships protecting the planet to attack Krel. Once word of the dragons’ attack had spread, no ship would come within a parsec of the Aries Prime system.

Warren looked over at his servant, who twitched and muttered nervously. He knew Chadwick was unhappy about coming along. Unfortunately, he had no choice.

Warren was so engrossed in his thoughts that he did not notice the shuttle had entered his ship’s bay until it touched down.

The pilot shut down the shuttle’s engines and opened the hatch. Warren exited first, followed by Chadwick, and the two made their way to the lift. When they arrived at Warren’s stateroom moments later, they entered, and Chadwick helped Warren get comfortable.

“Please bring me a large glass of ale,” Warren said. He did not know if he wanted to be sober on this trip.

Chadwick did as instructed and soon handed Warren a large, cold glass. Accepting it gratefully, Warren took a long pull.

“Sir,” said Chadwick, “may I have an ale? My nerves are on end.”

“Yes, of course. Come back and sit here with me. I wish not to be alone.”

After pouring himself a tall glass of ale, Chadwick sat beside his master. By the time the ship made its first jump, he’d already downed half his glass.

The ship was so advanced that it could make multiple jumps before stopping to reconfirm its course. Nevertheless, it would take four days to reach Aries Prime.

“Sir,” said Chadwick, “are you sure the dragons are no longer on Aries Prime?”

“King Spartacus had the boy send them away,” Warren replied. “Once the boy king rescued his cubs, the dragons would no longer have a need to return.”

“I wish we could be sure.” Chadwick’s eyes darted back and forth as he nervously chewed his lip.

Downing the rest of his ale, Warren grasped Chadwick’s arm and squeezed it. “We shall face this together. I would not return if I thought there was even a remote possibility that the dragons might come back.”

For some reason, this did not comfort Chadwick.