Six Years in the Past
William’s High School
Dayton, Ohio
Planet: Earth
It had been five minutes since the principal decided to let everyone go home early. There was a sense of panic in the air regarding the impending invasion of the aliens.
Carson was overwhelmed as he tried to get to his locker. Students around him were rushing to their cars or the buses so they could get home. He was sure the panic was worse outside. He still wasn’t quite sure what was going on, despite the fact that Lisa had told him what she knew about Ann. How did all the pieces fit together?
He finally got to his locker. He wondered what the point of doing his homework was. If there really were aliens heading to Earth, would humans survive the attack? Would he even know how to tell which humans took the chip and were working on the aliens’ side? There were far too many questions and not enough answers.
He opened his locker, feeling as if he were going in slow motion. Everything around him was happening so fast. He almost felt dizzy from all the students rushing past him. After he got the books he needed for his homework, he shut his locker. Why was he getting his homework again? He shook his head. It was hard to think clearly.
He turned to leave the school when he bumped into someone. Looking up, he was surprised to see it was William, smiling slyly at him.
“You didn’t succeed,” William sneered.
“Whatever,” he muttered, not caring to talk to his ex-best friend.
“Listen to me when I talk to you.”
“I don’t have to.”
“Here’s a warning,” William said as he grabbed his arm.
Carson struggled to get away from him, but William was stronger.
“Ann will be mine before the day is over, and one of the first things I’m going to do is make you apologize for all the things you did to prevent me from being happy.”
“I have nothing to apologize for.”
William pushed Carson against one of the lockers. “I don’t know what I hate more. Your self-righteous attitude or your hope to see me miserable.”
One of the football players ran into William, knocking his backpack off his shoulder. A couple of items fell onto the floor. Carson saw the same smartphone-looking device that made William so touchy yesterday, but there was also a chip injector. William swore as he let go of Carson and bent down to pick them up.
“What are you going to do with those?” Carson demanded, suddenly angry.
“None of your business!” William grabbed the chip injector and quickly stuffed it back into his backpack.
Before he could reach for the other device, Carson kicked it across the hallway.
“Hey! Don’t mess with my stuff!” William shouted.
Carson rushed to the other side of the hallway and picked up the device. This had to be what Ann needed to get her and Hathor back to the future. He recalled how Lisa had told him about it. He had to make sure William didn’t get his hands on it again. As William lunged for him, Carson slipped between several students and ran out of the school. William might have been stronger than him, but Carson could run faster.
It took all of his energy to avoid William, but as soon as he got into his car and drove off, he knew he could relax, at least for the moment. The traffic was heavy but manageable. He had to find Ann. He didn’t know where he would find Hathor, but he knew where he might find Ann. He turned his car so that it was heading in the direction of her high school.
***
United Nations
Planet: Earth
Omin-2, disguised as Alexander, stood before the representatives of the various nations around the world. All of them had the chip, so they would willingly obey him.
“As you know, there is a preposterous lie being spread about my being an alien who’s trying to control you,” he said. “These are vicious rumors being spread by people who oppose the peace I am desperately trying to give to you. They are enemies of the peace.”
“Enemies of the peace,” the representatives repeated in unison.
“We must oppose them or risk losing all we have worked for. Gather the best military fighters from your nations for this moment. We must come together and either kill them or implant them with chips so that we can preserve the peace.”
“Preserve the peace,” they mindlessly repeated.
He introduced Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Ares, and Guards Falon and Lino, who stood at attention in the front of the room. “These will be your leaders. You will follow their orders.”
“Follow their orders.”
“These two leaders, Falon and Lino, are in the form of the Palers who are coming to destroy us. This way they can easily slip in with our alien enemies and find their plans for conquest. Then we can act accordingly,” he said.
“We need to act,” the representatives replied.
“The set time for the alien attack is in approximately one hour. We don’t have much time. What you must do, do it quickly!”
“Quickly!”
Then, as if the spell was broken, they rushed out of the room, finding a way to inform their countries of the impending attack.
“You are on stage,” he told the gods and Palers who stood behind him. “Make your act a good one. Remember, whoever finds Queen Ann will be greatly rewarded.”
Then, with a smile, Omin-2 left the room.
***
Dayton, Ohio
Planet: Earth
Kent drove Hathor by Ann’s high school. Hathor groaned when he saw the vacant parking lot.
“Should we go to her house? Many people want to be with their families right now,” Kent said.
Hathor sighed. “I wish this book would tell me where she’s at right now, but it won’t because she’s not in any danger.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yes, but it also makes it harder for me to find her.” He turned to Kent. “Let’s try her home. Here’s her address. I wrote it down, just in case.” He handed the piece of paper to Kent.
“I know where that is,” Kent said. “I had a friend from Xenia in that area. I’m sure if she’s anywhere, she’s there.”
She might want to tell her parents about her destiny at this point, Hathor reasoned. He knew she wouldn’t go to William’s house to find the device without him there to protect her. That wasn’t something she’d be likely to do considering the fact that she wasn’t one to take such risks in the time that they had known each other.
“I still can’t believe you’re from another planet,” Kent said. “I knew you were different, but it never occurred to me that you were an alien. A good alien, I mean. I thought you were Amish or something. Those people don’t do much with modern technology.”
As Kent continued to drive down the street, the driver behind them honked his horn several times.
“What’s his problem? I’m already going ten over the speed limit,” Kent grumbled.
Hathor glanced back and recognized Carson, who was motioning for them to pull over.
“I know him,” Hathor said. “I think he has something to tell me.”
Kent found the nearest parking lot and pulled into it.
“He’s a friend of one of Ann’s friends,” Hathor explained as he tried to undo his seatbelt with no success. He still had trouble figuring these things out.
Carson quickly ran up to his window, urging him to roll it down.
Hathor did as Carson wished. “Carson? What is it?”
“Does this look familiar to you?” he asked, handing Hathor the device.
Hathor studied it then nodded. “It’s from Pale. It’s how they do time travel.”
“So it is important. William had it with him at school, and I took it. I thought it might have something to do with how you and Ann got back to this time.”
“It does. I’m glad you got this.”
“Well, I didn’t get everything. He also has something else.”
“What?”
“It’s something to inject a chip into someone’s hand. I recognized it from what I saw on TV.”
“A chip?” Hathor tensed. Omin’s clone must have decided that if he couldn’t kill Ann, he would settle for implanting her with the chip, and William was his tool for doing so. Then Ann and Raz would follow the clone’s orders. This wasn’t good.
“Look,” Carson said, “as I was leaving the school parking lot, I saw William get in his car. He’s looking for me, so I have to go. I don’t want him to know I gave that thing to you.”
Hathor glanced at the device. “Thank you, Carson. And good luck.”
“You too.” He ran back to his car and drove off.
Hathor shook his head in amazement. “I didn’t think people on this planet could be so helpful.”
“We have our moments.” Kent grinned. “Now that we found the device you need, we should continue our search for Ann. I’m sure she went to her house.” He shifted the car into drive and left the parking lot.
***
Ann’s house
Xenia, Ohio
Planet: Earth
Ann had just finished explaining everything Hathor had told her to her parents while Stacey sat next to her on the couch in silence. “I know this sounds like fiction, but it’s not,” Ann concluded when she saw her parents were staring at her in shock.
“And you go to this planet Raz, to be a queen, in four years from now?” her mother finally asked.
Ann nodded. “I know this is the last thing you expected to find out about me, but it’s the only way you can understand why I have to go and help defeat Alexander Napoli. He’s really a Paler, and he’s after me. If he can kill me, then I won’t become the queen of Raz, and he’ll succeed in making Razians his servants. I have to fight for Raz. The queen is the only one on that planet with enough power to do this.”
Her father shook his head. “Is it possible that Hathor lied to you?”
“No. I wasn’t sure about this whole thing when he first told me, but after seeing the video of Alexander, I know it’s true.”
Her parents sat back in their chairs, each taking time to reflect on what they had just learned.
“Did we have any say in whether or not you became queen of Raz?” her mother finally asked.
The question caught Ann off guard. She hadn’t thought to tell them about their early deaths. She debated whether or not to reveal that to them, but in the end, she decided against it. As painful as it was, it was meant to happen, and even with that being the case, she didn’t want to tell them.
She was saved the awkwardness of having to tell her mother anything when the front door flew off its hinges.
She jerked back, barely noting that Stacey and her parents did the same.
A human woman and a Paler entered the house and went directly to Ann, who scooted as far back on the couch as she could.
“You’re coming with us, Queen Ann,” they spoke simultaneously.
“You can’t come barging in here and take our daughter away!” her father yelled, his face red as he stood up to them.
The Paler sighed. “Athena, I told you there was going to be a distraction.”
“It’s to be expected, Guard Falon,” Athena said. “These people care for her. Obviously, they won’t be willing to let her go.”
Ann blinked several times. Something about the two seemed familiar. In another time, she suspected they were allies, but that was all she could recall.
“You’re not taking her,” her father repeated, getting up so he was standing between her and the two intruders.
Before anyone could protest, the Paler reached out, grabbed her father by the collar and threw him against the wall. The impact knocked him unconscious. Too stunned to move, Ann could only watch as Athena came over to her.
Ann’s mother, however, was quick to act. She grabbed the lamp next to her chair and smashed it over Athena’s head. Unfortunately, this didn’t knock Athena out.
Athena glanced at her mother and sighed. “That was extremely annoying.”
The Paler picked up another lamp and hit her mother on the head with it. Her mother collapsed on the floor, blood trickling down the side of her face.
“No!” Ann screamed.
Ann didn’t think about what she was doing. She merely acted on instinct. She kicked Athena behind her knees. Startled, Athena fell to the floor. Ann was ready to step on her neck when Falon grabbed her from behind. Ann struggled against him while Stacey jumped on his back and put her hands over his eyes so he couldn’t see what he was doing. Seeing her opportunity to act, Ann slipped out of his arms. Athena lunged at her and grabbed her arms, pinning them firmly behind her back.
Falon leaned forward with enough force to throw Stacey off his back, and she landed on her hands and knees. Disregarding her, he walked up to Ann and took out the thin rope he had in one of his pockets. He quickly and effortlessly tied Ann’s hands and feet together.
“Paler rope. Made to endure the toughest fighter. Even Omin himself couldn’t break free of this stuff,” he sneered.
Ann stopped struggling, realizing it was pointless to waste the energy she might need later.
“Speaking of Omin, his clone will be delighted at the gift we will present to him,” Athena said with a smile. “We won’t have to worry about the threat of Raz now.”
“Do you want to keep fighting me?” Falon asked Stacey who was getting to her feet.
“It’s okay, Stacey,” Ann assured her, despite her fears. “Hathor will come for me.”
“Oh, we’ll get him, too,” Falon said. “He can’t outwit the Palers and Olympians.”
Ann raised her eyebrows. Olympians? “You’re one of the goddesses from planet Olympia?” she asked Athena.
Athena frowned. “I thought you didn’t remember anything.”
“I don’t. Hathor filled me in on the details.”
She rolled her eyes. “That meddlesome Hathor. We’ll have to do something about him when we capture him. He’ll surely come to your rescue.”
“What do you want me to do about them?” Falon asked, nodding toward Ann’s parents and her helpless friend.
“Leave them,” Athena replied. “They are of little consequence to us.”
Falon picked Ann up, and Athena followed him out of the house.