I was standing in front of a golden throne, but the woman sitting on the throne didn’t look like Sir or like she came from Korrigon Four at all. In fact, she looked human just like me—she had blonde hair and a curvy figure and a kind but regal smile. She was also wearing a golden crown on her head.
“Who are you?” I asked bluntly. “And where am I?” I looked around but everything besides the golden throne and the woman sitting on it was wreathed in mist.
“I’m Charlotte Walker—also known as Empress Sundalla the 1000th,” she answered. “I’m the ruler of The Goddess’s Cloak—what you call ‘The Milky Way,’ galaxy.”
I frowned at her.
“But…you don’t look like an alien.”
The woman on the throne laughed.
“That’s because I’m not an alien—I’m human just like you. And I was raised on Earth, just like you. And just like you, the fate of our galaxy once rested in my hands.”
“What do you know about that?” I demanded. “Have you been spying on Sir and me?”
She shook her head, her long blonde hair swishing over her elaborate, jeweled gown.
“No, but I am very closely connected to the Goddess of Mercy, she who told the Ancient Ones to seed the Twelve Worlds and make the Twelve Peoples grow.” Her lovely face went suddenly grave. “She has told me what your fate is and how very near our galaxy is to destruction and domination by an older, superior race that has powers we cannot prevail against, no matter how hard we fight.”
“Er, yes—it’s apparently right on the brink,” I admitted uncomfortably. “But Sir thinks we can convince his ruler, Splendara the Third and Thirtieth, that the people of our galaxy are advanced enough to be left alone to live their own lives.”
“It will not be as simple as you think,” Charlotte said gravely. “There are evil forces involved—hungry mouths that would gobble our whole galaxy up if they’re allowed to do it.”
“They could do it, too,” I said grimly. “I’ve seen Sir’s Mental Powers—if a whole bunch of people who can crush things with their minds and control people’s thoughts come after us, we’re in deep shit. Er, pardon my language, your Majesty.”
The Empress made a dismissive motion with one hand.
“Just Charlotte, please. I know how great the danger is, but I wanted to come to you and let you know that you’re more powerful than you think, Elli.”
“I am?” I asked, frowning and trying to figure out if I had told her my name or if she just somehow knew it.
Charlotte nodded.
“Yes, you are. You are a La-ti-zal, you know—a female with special powers from the Ancient Ones.”
“That’s what those little blue wormy guys—the Commercians—told Sir,” I said. “But other than being able to read and speak Korgish and getting Sir’s spaceship to respond to me, I haven’t exactly done anything Earth shattering.”
“You will, though.” Charlotte leaned forward on her golden throne, her gaze serious and intense. “Whether you know it or not, you are one of the most powerful La-ti-zals ever to grace our galaxy with your existence.”
“I am? Me?” I shook my head. “How?”
Charlotte came down off her golden throne and put her hands on my shoulders.
“Elli, you’re a Channeler,” she said. “Do you have any idea what that means?”
“Uh, no.” I shook my head. “I didn’t even know there were different kinds of La-ti-zal powers.”
“There are,” Charlotte told me. “I myself am a Knower and I have several other friends from Earth who turned out to be La-ti-zals as well. My friend Zoe is an Opener, Leah is a Healer, and there are others too—another girl named Rylee is a Binder. We all come from the same area on Earth—often one La-ti-zal will cause friends and family she’s close with to develop La-ti-zal powers as well.” She shrugged. “Of course, the powers never manifest until they leave Earth’s atmosphere.”
“Well, what does a Channeler do?” I asked, frowning. “Am I just kind of a sponge, sucking up Alien knowledge or something? Because that would make sense—I’m a librarian back on Earth.” (I decided not to mention my side gig as Aunt Maizy’s dog wrangler for obvious reasons.)
“That’s part of it,” Charlotte told me. “But you don’t just soak up knowledge—you’re also able to soak up and channel the power and abilities of those you’re close to. You’ve been getting very close to one of the most powerful Korrigons alive, haven’t you?”
“You mean Sir?” I asked. “Yes, I guess so.”
“And you’ve been able to learn his languages and to work with his technology, haven’t you?” Charlotte prompted me.
“Well…yes.” I nodded. “But I still don’t see—”
“You’re going to be able to channel his power as well,” she interrupted me. “And you’re going to have to in order to save our galaxy—in order to save Earth.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “But Sir said all I have to do is prove I can speak Court Korgish!”
She shook her head.
“I’m afraid you will have to do much more than that. And you must know—you are walking into danger, Elli. You can’t let your guard down, no matter what.”
“I won’t,” I said, beginning to be really nervous. “But how will I know what to do?”
“When the time comes, you’ll know,” Charlotte assured me. She stepped back and I saw that both she and the golden throne were beginning to be misty and see-through. “The Goddess will whisper in your ear,” she told me. “You’ll know what to do—how to save our galaxy.”
“But…but why can’t I know now?” I demanded anxiously. “Wouldn’t it be better if I could know exactly what to do and when to do it? Wouldn’t it? Charlotte, wait—don’t leave!”
But she was fading more and more until I could barely see the outline of her pretty face.
“There’s no time—you’re leaving our galaxy and my power does not extend past the boundaries of The Goddess’s Cloak. But don’t worry--you will know,” she murmured and then she faded away all together and someone was shaking my shoulder.
I opened my eyes and saw Sir bending over me.
“Get up, little one,” he rumbled. “We have to get ready.”
“Huh…? Where are we?” I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I’d had such a strange dream, all about a girl with golden hair and me being a powerful La-ti-zal but it was fading rapidly from my memory.
“We’re in orbit around my home world—Korrigon Four,” Sir told me. “And we need to get ready to go—it’s barely an ahrn until our appearance at Court.”
“Don’t…don’t we have to fold space or make a wormhole to fly through or something?” I asked groggily.
Sir shook his head.
“I’ve already folded space—I thought it might be less traumatic for you if you slept through it. Now it’s time for us to get ready for Court.”
I thought of the golden-haired woman saying, “There’s no time—you’re leaving our galaxy.” I frowned—that had been part of my dream. Why couldn’t I remember more of it?
But there was no time to try and piece together my strange dream—Sir was already getting me out of bed and hustling me to the shower.
It was time to meet the Sovereign of Korrigon Four—I just hoped I wouldn’t screw things up.