Birthright - Chapter 9 Birthright - Chapter 9


Alysson stared at herself in her mirror as Vera readied her bed for that evening. Many things were going through her mind, but nothing bothered her more than the letter she held in her hands.

Mother. The Trial has started.

"My lady?"

Alysson looked up, seeing that Vera was standing over her.

"Vera?" she asked. She then looked around seeing that she had not even noticed that her bed was ready for her. "Im sorry, Vera. I was just thinking to myself."

Vera nodded and smiled as she came to kneel before her. "I understand, my lady," she said. "A lot has happened in a very short period of time." She then eyed the slip of paper she held in her hands. "A note from Anala?"

"Yes, yes," she said as she folded it. "Keith is going through the Trial."

Vera's eyes widened. "Is that possible?" she asked. "Lady Anala never went....."

Alysson nodded. "It seems that my blood runs strong in him, Vera," she said. "A lot stronger than I realized."

"Are they making the trip here soon?" Vera asked. "He must be seen by the High Priests."

"They are leaving in the morning," she said as she stood. "Anala has watched over the Trial before. She can help him through the beginning part."

"It's the ending that kills most, my lady," Vera said.

She nodded. She then smiled to herself. "But imagine, Vera, I will get to see my son.....after all these years."

Vera smiled as she got to her feet. "Something to look forward to," she said. "Alexander would have been proud."

"Only if he were here to share in this, Vera, only if he were here."

Vera took her into her arms and held her close. "Just hope for the best, my lady," she said. "And you do have my support in your affairs."

"Kelar will pay for what he has done to me," she said. "For everything that he has done."

"Justice will be finally served."

Planet Arus

Lance let out a yawn as he walked the corridors of the Castle on his last hour of his shift. How he hated doing a shift before a long trip. Coran would be the one to schedule him a very very late shift.

Just as he was checking his last room, he was startled when Anala bumped into him as she ran down the corridor.

"Anala!" he called out just before she reached the end of the hall.

"What the heck are you doing up so late?"

She was looking around, almost frantic, but seemed to calm as he approached her.

"Lance, have you seen Keith?" she asked.

"Keith?" he asked. "Shouldn't he be in his room? And shouldn't you be too?"

"No, no," she said. "He's not there. He was having a hard time sleeping, so I gave him something to make him sleep. He upped and left before I could take him back to his room."

Lance looked at her confusingly, but then took her hand. "Well, if he is wandering around the Castle, we can find him easily from the Control center," he said. "Come on."

Anala followed Lance as he led her down the halls that lead to Castle Control. Only having been in the room once, she was still amazed by the sheer size of it. They walked up to the control panel in the middle of the room, and he quickly pulled up what seemed to be the blue prints of the Castle on the view screen before him.

"If he's anywhere at all, we will find him."

Anala watched as he scanned the entire Castle, and let out her breath seeing a small red blip moving slowly down one of the corridors.

"There, look, he's heading for his quarters," he said.

"I have to go and see to him," she said.

"Let it wait till morning, Anala," he said. "Keith does things that sometimes we even question."

"But..."

"Look, we have a long trip tomorrow," he said as he stood, facing her. "You are going to be our guide to Vallis when we leave this quadrant. You need your rest."

Anala looked toward the screen again, and saw that the red blip was now stationary in one of the rooms. She slowly nodded.

"I guess you're right," she said. "Thank you, Lance."

"My pleasure," he said. "And since it's the end of my shift, why don't I escort you back to bed."

Anala turned to him. She then smiled as she accepted his offered arm.

"Once we enter the Crimson quadrant, it will be a quick trip through," Anala said as she looked over the star charts. "Vallis is toward the Garnet Star System. It's a very tiny planet, but the only one near the edge at that system."

"Is there any other concern we should be aware on our way through the Quadrant."

"That it takes us close through Planet Doom," Anala said. "But Im sure that shouldn't be much of a problem."

"I've seen to it that our travel to Vallis will be a quiet one," Allura stated that caused Keith and Coran to look at her.

"What do you mean?"

She shook her head as she turned her attention back to Anala. "Has Kelar been informed of our arrival?"

Anala nodded. "My mother has been keeping him informed," she said. "We shouldn't have any problems when we are there."

"On the front," Allura said. "When we do get there, how are we going to...."

"Yes, yes," Anala stated.

She pulled out a small slip of paper from her pocket and unfolded it.

"This is where Kelar will probably have you stay for the time you are there," she said pointing to the schematics that were drawn on the paper.

"Unfortunately, Kelar does not know about the many secret passageways that are hidden throughout the Castle.

"Once we are settled, I will come for all of you and take you to see Princess Lyana," she said. "From there, she will inform us of the way to get to the underground storage units, so that we can release the food and water for my people. Once Kelar loses control over the resources, we will only have to worry about his army."

She turned over the paper and pointed to a section that was adjoined to the outside of the Castle.

"Kelar houses his most powerful weapons in this bunker, here," she said. "If we can get to this supply, his army will be weaponless."

Allura looked over the plans and then nodded. "Im sure when we finally meet Lyana, we will have a more fine tuned plan," she said. "Till then, our main concern is keeping up appearances when we land."

Her gaze then came up to meet Keith's.

"Anala, how much like Keith looks like his mother?" she asked.

"What?"

"Wouldn't it be strange that you come home with someone who looks like you and your mother?" Allura asked. "Kelar will wonder what is going on."

Anala turned to Keith, seeing that they did share some similarities.

Lance then smiled. "I guess its for the ol' Superman routine," he said.

"Superman?" Allura asked.

Lance smiled as he pulled took out a pair of his old reading glasses.

"Old comic series back in the 20th century," he said as he gave Keith the glasses.

Allura watched as Keith put on the glasses and her expression turned to one of confusion.

"How is a pair of glasses supposed to change his looks?" Allura asked.

"Don't ask, Allura," Lance said. "It worked for years in the comic."

Anala laughed. "It'll be enough," she said. "If Kelar does mention anything, Ill have an excuse ready."

Keith took off the glasses and looked at them. He then popped the lenses out. "And Im going to see Dr. Gorma about putting in non-prescript lenses in these," he said. "Lance, I didn't know you needed these."

"Only when I read," he said with a smile. "Don't need them now, you broke the lenses."

Keith smiled. "Thanks for the effort."

"Hey, no problem."

"Sounds like we have a plan," Allura said.

Keith nodded. "Be ready to leave in a half hour," he stated. "Do what you need to do."

The group then excused themselves. Allura then looked up at Anala as she watched as Keith left.

"Not on speaking terms?" Allura asked.

Anala turned to her.

"What?"

Allura smiled as she walked around the table and stood before her.

"When he acts like that, we all know that something is bothering him, or someone has angered him. What happened last night? Is it because of this Trial?"

"A little more than that," Anala said. "Do you think it would be wise for him to pilot...."

"Is there any reason why he shouldn't?" Allura countered before she could finish her sentence.

Anala could only shake her head. Allura let out a sigh. "He hasn't made any request to not to, and I trust his decisions faithfully," she said.

"Is there something that I should be concerned about?"

Anala shook her head. "I not at liberty to say," she said, she then looked up at her. "But I must warn you to not be surprised by what you see in Vallis. Its very important..to both Keith and I."

"I understand," Allura said. She then smiled. "Go on, if you have any packing to do, I suggest you finish it."

"What Lion do you want me to ride in?" she asked. "Seeing that Keith."

"Ride with him," Allura said. "He'll get over it."

Anala breathed in deeply. "It seems that I have much to learn about him."

Allura placed her hand on her shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, there's a lot that we need to learn as well."

Enroute - Crimson Quadrant

Anala sat in silence, mostly, as she played with a small toy that she had brought with her. A sort of mental puzzle that she always had a hard time figuring out. Hardly a word was said through their whole trip, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable. And being that this Lion ship was definitely not made for comfort for any passengers, she had to get up and stretch a couple of times to ease the knot she started to feel at her back.

"Bored?"

The question caught her by surprise as she looked up toward the front of the ship. She saw that Keith was now looking at her as she held her small game in her hand.

"Speaking to me again?" she asked as she turned back to her game. "I was beginning to like the silence."

He didn't say anything to her, but suddenly stood. She was caught by surprise, wondering how the ship would fly without him at the helm.

"Autopilot," he answered her as he kneeled before here, staring down at the game. "What is that?"

"A game," she said. "Something I was given when I was a child."

"What's the goal?"

"Line up the balls in each.." She started to point at the four corners but before she finished her instructions, he placed the small toy on the floor and gave it a quick spin. ".of the four corners."

She looked down at it and saw the four small colored balls sitting motionless in their respective places.

"But. How."

"Simple science," he said with a smile. "Centrifugal force."

"Centri-what?"

"The force that causes objects to be sent outward," he said as he picked it up. "Like when someone swings you around."

"I see," she said.

He smiled again, then took her hand. "Come."

"What?"

He pulled her to her feet and led her over to the pilot's chair. He motioned for her to take a seat in it.

"But, I can't," she protested.

"Trust me," he said.

She hesitantly took a seat in the pilots chair, over whelmed by the control panel that laid before her. He took one of her hands and placed it on one of the control levers.

"Go ahead, take a hold," he said.

Nervously, she grasped the other lever with her free hand.

"Relax," he said. "Now, the lever on that side, give it a quick push."

"This one?" she asked.

He nodded.

As she pushed it, she felt the ship lurch, and quickly grabbed hold of the control levers. "What did I do?" she asked.

"Just took it off auto," he said. "Now you're flying."

"Flying," she repeated. She felt her grip slacken, which cause the ship to suddenly go into a nose dive.

Keith grabbed her hand and placed it on the control lever again, holding it there with his as he helped her to pull the ship up.

^Hey chief, what's going on?^

"Nothing much, Lance," Keith answered. "Just having some fun."

^Well, save it for when we land on Vallis,^ Lance answered. ^Can't having you hogging all the fun with Anala.^

Keith smiled as he turned to her. "Make you a deal," he stated.

"Deal?"

"Ill teach you to fly," he said. "If you teach me to as well."

Her face brightened. "It's a deal," she said. "You better teach me well. Im going to need it."