“What happened to you?” Emily asked, coming over.
“We’ve been putting young trees in travel containers,” Agent B said. “There are some amazing plants here. We’re saving all we can.”
“But it is heavy and dirty work,” Cupid said.
Emily looked at Cupid approvingly. “Hard work and dirt suit you. You should show your wife, Psyche, when you get back to Olympus.”
Cupid grinned at her. “I might just do that.”
Emily tilted her head at Agent B. “It’s going to be hard to go back to your old life on Earth after you’ve seen all this.”
He shrugged. “No, it’s not, because I’m not going back to Earth. After all those memories of the past coming back to me, and seeing all of this, I can’t. There’s nothing there for me. I’m hoping Jupiter might let me stay in Olympus. Or better yet . . .” He looked over to Riza. “Maybe Riza will let me stay on Xanadu to help these folks get settled.”
Riza turned and nodded. “I would be grateful for the help. You are most welcome to stay on Xanadu.”
“That’s settled, then,” Agent B said.
Across the large control room, laughter rang out. Stella was with a group of young silver-skinned girls. They were using a lot of animated gestures to try to communicate. The one thing they all had in common was the ability to laugh. The young Rheans didn’t take notice that Stella couldn’t walk. There were more than enough of them offering to carry her around.
Emily also noticed that the Rhean teens had managed to help ease her grief over the loss of her parents. When this was over, she felt certain that Stella, too, would find a new home, either in Olympus with Vulcan or with the Rheans.
“Another group has just arrived,” Arious Minor reported as he popped out of the mainframe computer on the primary consul. “They are settling in sector C right now. There are reports of extensive burns and radiation sickness, but they are being treated.”
“Very good,” Riza said. “Just a few more to come and we’ll be ready to leave.”
Emily watched in amazement as Riza and Arious Minor worked together like a well-oiled machine, each anticipating what the other needed or would say. In so many ways, Riza was just like her—a wild, fun-filled free spirit. But as she worked to save an entire civilization, Emily had a glimpse of what the Xan really were: a sensitive, intelligent people dedicated to preserving life. She felt privileged to call Riza her friend.
As she gazed around at everyone, Emily realized for the first time in a very long while that she was at peace. Agent B, Stella, and Cupid were safe, and Pegasus, her beloved Pegasus, was by her side. And even though Earl and Frankie were still in danger, she realized Riza was right. They were too important to the Titans to kill.
Emily was also struck by the sudden realization that she had finally found a purpose to her life. Working with Riza to help save the Rheans was what really mattered. It suddenly seemed trivial to worry so much that she had changed and looked like Diana or that Joel wasn’t interested in her anymore. In that single polarizing moment, Emily knew this rescue was the start of something much bigger. After they dealt with the Titans under Charing Cross, there would be many more such rescues.
As though reading her mind, Riza looked over at her and smiled. It lit up her whole, pearly face. “I like working with you too,” she said, winking at her.
Emily was about to say something when she felt a terrible pain tearing through her chest. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before, as though something were being physically ripped out of her body. As the pain intensified, she was driven to her knees, gasping for breath.
Riza howled, clutched her chest, and collapsed to the floor.
“Flame!” Cupid cried as he rushed to Emily’s side.
Emily was panting heavily and in too much pain to speak. Beside her, Riza was helped up by Agent B and two of the Rheans. When she looked over at her, Riza was weeping—with cream-colored tears streaming down her cheeks.
“What was that?” Emily gasped. “It’s like I felt Lorin or something.”
“You did,” Riza wept. “We both felt her die.”
Pegasus whinnied loudly and shook his head while everyone demanded to know how.
Riza was leaning heavily on Agent B. “Lorin was a part of us and we were part of her. All of us connected. But that connection has been violently severed. . . .”
Emily was helped up by Cupid. She stood, holding on to Pegasus for support. The stallion was pressing his head to her in sympathy. “How is this possible? I don’t feel Lorin anymore, but I still feel her power.”
Riza started to shake. “This is terrible. . . .” She focused on the dot of light. “Arious, we’re out of time. We can’t wait to gather everyone together here. Send out a warning to the other outposts on the world. Tell them that we have to transport the whole planet to Xanadu.”
“Riza, you can’t!” Arious Minor cried. “You don’t have the strength for this. If more of the Xan were here, yes, but alone, it will take too much out of you.”
“We don’t have a choice. We can’t leave anyone behind to perish when that sun goes. But we must get back to Xanadu immediately. Those Titans must be stopped.”
“Riza, Emily, please, you’re scaring me,” Stella said. “What’s happening?”
Riza shook her head. “You have good cause to be frightened. We all do. I do not know how it happened, but somehow, Lorin has been killed by the Titans under Charing Cross. They have absorbed her powers. She is dead, but her power lives on, in them.”
Cupid gasped. “That means . . .”
Riza started to nod. “Yes. They now have the power they need to escape their pit.”
Pegasus whinnied and pawed the floor, while the others gasped in shock.
Riza nodded to him. “Once they are out of there, they will head straight to Olympus. If they absorb the Olympians and gain their powers as well, there will be no stopping them!”
• • •
The preparations on Rhean were manic as everyone did their part to ready the world for transport. Emily and Pegasus stood outside the control room on the red, sandy ground of the dying planet. There were no structures to be seen. It looked more like a dry desert than a living world. Riza explained that the people had known about the supernova for many years and had moved everything, including the plant life, underground to survive the heat.
Somehow, the air around them even smelled burned. Above them, the flashing colors of the sun blazing outside the protective energy field were blinding. Despite the shield, the heat of the impending supernova was blistering and increasing by the minute. Emily was reminded of what it felt like to sit in a car with the windows closed in the middle of the summer. Though the air was breathable, it was becoming difficult to inhale.
Thousands of the silver-skinned people were gathered around them. There was no mistaking the collective fear on their faces. They all knew what was at stake.
“There is nothing more we can do,” Riza said, “other than hope that this works. But I will not lie to you. What I am proposing to do is very risky. However, I won’t be doing it alone.”
“I do not understand,” Cupid said. “There are no other Xan here.”
“True,” Riza agreed. “However, Emily contains part of the Xan. Also, you and Pegasus have great powers.”
“We don’t,” Stella said. She was seated on the stallion’s back and holding on to his white mane.
Riza nodded. “Yes, you do. Every living being generates energy. For most, it’s imperceptible. But for others, like the Olympians, Titans, and Xan, we have more and can use it. My hope is if we all hold hands, it will connect us and I may be able to summon all our powers together and focus them to transport this planet into a safe orbit around Xanadu.”
“That sounds great in principle,” Agent B added. “But what about an atmosphere and gravity?”
“That is where I will come in,” Arious Minor said. “I have already warned Arious Major. When we arrive, we will generate
a field around the world to create a supporting gravity and atmosphere. It won’t last indefinitely, but with luck, the planet’s core and orbit should start to generate its own. If we move the plants to the surface again, they could ideally create a self-sustaining environment. This world could become a moon or even a sister planet to Xanadu.”
“That’s a bold idea,” Agent B said.
“It is,” Riza agreed. “And there is no guarantee it will work. But we have little choice. Would you leave these people behind to burn up when their sun dies?”
Agent B looked over to the large gathering of Rheans. “Of course not.”
Emily asked Cupid, “What about you? Would you abandon them so we could go fight the mutant Titans before they attack Olympus?”
Cupid hesitated for a moment, and then his wings drooped. “No, I would not.”
“They’re both important,” Stella offered.
“Indeed they are,” Riza agreed. “So moving this world is the only possible solution. Now, this is going to be a touch uncomfortable. But I have to reach out to every living being on the planet and tell them to touch one another. The power must flow through all of us, unbroken.”
Emily nodded. “We’re ready.”
“Then let us begin. Take my hand. Everyone, start touching.”
Emily took hold of Riza’s finely boned hand and reached out to touch Pegasus with her other hand. Stella reached down to hold on to Cupid and Agent B, who then reached out to the nearest Rheans. One by one, the gathered masses started to take hold of one another.
“Here we go,” Riza said. “I’m about to make the call and tell everyone to touch.”
Riza closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Instantly, Emily heard Riza’s voice blasting in her mind as she telepathically told everyone on the world to take hold of one another and form a single mass connection. It was the same voice she’d heard in her head for so long.
Emily winced as the pain in her head intensified. She opened her eyes and saw her friends also showing signs of distress. Pegasus nickered and shook his head, and Cupid was moaning. But as the minutes passed, Emily felt the strangest sensation, like a soft tickling on her skin, raising the hairs on her arms.
“That is the power of unity,” Riza said, reading her mind. “The people of this world know what’s at stake. They will do everything they can to save their planet and each other.”
Riza soon stopped broadcasting the call to touch. “It is done. We are all connected.”
Agent B shook his head. “That’s wasn’t a sting. It was a sledgehammer.”
“I’m sorry, but it was necessary to get everyone connected.”
“Do you mean everyone alive on this planet is now holding hands?” Cupid asked.
“Hands, paws, claws, wings, and leaves . . . ,” Riza said. “If it is alive, it is connected. I just hope it is enough power to move us into the Solar Stream and then get us out again when we reach Xanadu.”
“It is time,” Arious Minor said. “Everything is prepared. Arious Major is waiting to receive us.”
Riza looked down at Emily. “I really need your help, Emily. You are the only other being alive with Xan in you. I must call upon that power to get us moving.”
“I understand.” Emily leaned over and gave Pegasus a kiss on the soft muzzle. “Whatever happens, Pegs, you know that I love you.”
Pegasus nickered softly and nodded his head.
“He loves you too,” Riza said.
Emily didn’t need Riza to tell her that. She already knew. After everything they’d gone through, their bond was stronger than ever, and she could feel his love like a comforting blanket.
“All right, let’s begin.” Riza took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and once again, tilted her head back. Instantly, Emily felt the drawing of power coming from deep within her core.
At first nothing happened. But then everyone felt the first tremors from beneath the ground. These increased as Riza started to physically move the entire planet.
It was the strangest sensation and almost reminded Emily of the Staten Island Ferry, which she used to take with her parents. On the ferry, she could feel the deep, steady rumbling of the large engines as the boat pulled away from the dock. At first it didn’t move very fast, but the feeling belowdecks promised greater speed. This was almost the same. The feeling that there were great engines starting and soon the planet would move a lot faster.
Emily wasn’t wrong. Before she finished the thought, she felt the rumbling increasing. The swirling colors above the protective field started to spin even faster. But the sun wasn’t moving—they were!
Faster and faster the entire planet shifted as they pulled away from the blazing heat of the supernova and into darker space. The temperature dropped with each second as they left the sun’s influence.
Before Emily could say anything, she felt a sudden, wrenching whoosh and saw the blazing light of the Solar Stream surrounding them. The Rheans around them clicked and growled in terror. It was obvious they’d never seen the Solar Stream before.
As always, it was impossible to gauge time and how long they had been in the Solar Stream. But after what seemed an eternity, Arious Minor started to scream. “Riza, slow us down. We’re approaching Xanadu too fast!”
Emily looked over to Riza. Her head was still back and her eyes were clenched shut in concentration.
“Riza!” Emily shook the Xan’s hand. “Slow us down!”
She tried to pull her hand free but discovered they were fused together. Nor could she break her connection with Pegasus. The collective power that had helped them move the planet was now keeping everyone bound together.
“Riza, wake up!” Emily shouted again. “You must stop us now!”
The small dot of light appeared before Emily’s face. “Emily, she’s unconscious. It’s up to you now. Summon your power if you can. You must stop us if we are to survive. Do it now before we reach the end of the Solar Stream and are obliterated!”
Emily’s heart was racing. She had allowed the ancient Xan complete control of her powers to move the planet. But now that Riza was unconscious, there was no one but her to pull them free of the Solar Stream. Emily shut her eyes and started to focus her thoughts. She summoned every ounce of power she had left to stop the planet.
Harder and harder she concentrated, until she felt a tearing in her head and burning in her whole body. “Stop!” she shouted. With a final, heaving push, a hidden door in the deepest depths of her core flew open and unleashed an explosive power she’d never imagined possible. It was like a living thing, pouring through every cell of her body.
“I said stop!” she commanded with her mind.
As her power swelled, she heard dreadful screaming and howling from the others around her. Pegasus whinnied louder than she’d ever heard before. They were dying. She’d failed, and because of it, they were all dying. These were the final thoughts flashing through her mind as darkness overwhelmed her.
15
PAELEN BURST FREE OF THE solar Stream high above Xanadu. The sun was just starting to set and the sky was a stunning crimson red. Joel, on Chrysaor, appeared right beside him, followed by Earl and Frankie riding the two Pegasus clones.
“This is Xanadu?” Frankie asked.
Joel nodded. “It is a beautiful place.”
“It’s a wonder,” Frankie said as he gazed all around.
“You haven’t really seen it yet,” Joel said. “Wait till you see inside the Temple of Arious.”
Paelen heard the exchange but was in no mood to add to it. His heart was heavy and he couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow he’d betrayed Lorin. He should never have let her come along. She was dead because of him.
Flying in silence, he led the group to the clear landing area outside the temple. He touched down and, without waiting for the others, stormed into the temple. “Emily? Pegasus? Riza?” he shouted.
Receiving no answer, he ran for the stairs and moved down deeper into the temple until he re
ached the chamber of Arious. Without knocking, he stormed in and heard the distinct hum of the Xan computer. “Arious, where are Emily and Riza? I need to see them immediately.”
“Paelen, I am so glad you are here,” the computer answered. “There is terrible trouble.”
“I know. The Titans under Charing Cross murdered Lorin and stole her power. Now they are free.”
“I’m not talking about that. I meant with Riza.”
“Riza? What about her? Is she with Emily and Pegasus?”
“Yes, they are all on the remnants of Rhean.”
“Where?”
“Rhean. It was a dying planet on the other side of the universe.”
“What’s she doing there?” Joel cried as he entered the temple.
Earl and Frankie were walking closely behind him. When Frankie’s eyes saw Arious, he gasped and approached the main consul of the supercomputer.
“The Rhean sun is going to go supernova, and Riza went there to gather the survivors to bring here. But then Emily arrived with details of what happened on Earth. Both she and Riza felt Lorin die and know her powers are now within the mutant Titans.”
“So what is the trouble?” Paelen asked.
“There was no time left to gather all the planet’s survivors together to bring here. Instead, they decided to bring the whole planet. It is in the Solar Stream right now.”
“They what?” Joel cried. “Can Riza actually do that?”
“I fear not,” Arious said. “My counterpart, Arious Minor, is with them and tried to warn them. But Riza had to try. She joined with Emily, and they have united all the survivors together, hoping the combined energy would be enough to get them here. Riza managed to move Rhean into the Solar Stream. But it is doubtful that she can pull it out again.”
“So what will happen?” Joel asked. “They’ll be trapped inside the Solar Stream and just keep circling around in it?”
“No. Once they fly past Xanadu, they will reach the end of the Solar Stream. The planet and everything on it will be destroyed.”
“No, that’s not possible!” Joel cried. “They can’t be destroyed, not now, not after everything we’ve been through.”