Venus - Avalon

January 31, 2558, C.E.

Jaedon stood. Waiting. He was not accustomed to waiting at the front door of a castle. He shifted slightly in his military uniform, but his short brown hair was unaffected. Casually, he ran a hand through his hair just to make sure it was all still in the right place. Usually, a butler or servant or someone would have opened the door by now. The door was opened by a man with long golden blond hair and a blue robe with various silver insignia. He was large and intimidating. It was not what Jadeon expected. He reacted as quickly as he could and bowed deeply. “Your majesty.”

The King of Venus did not enjoy formality from people he liked. “Please, Jaedon, stop that.”

“Yes, sir.” He quickly righted himself.

“Stop that too.” The king glared at him, clearly intent on getting his message across, as he waved Jaedon in.

Jaedon smirked slightly, “I’ll take that as a compliment.” They walked side by side through the ornate entryway. Even though it was meant to look like a medieval castle the building was modern. It had ornate wood artwork on top of stone construction. However, it was warm and inviting though rich tapestries and carpeting. There was a large staircase up through the middle of the entryway. They walked past the staircase underneath the level above to reach a hallway. That’s when the silence was broken.

“Where is everyone? I’m used to you being surrounded by servants, courtiers, and politicians.” The castle, as inviting as it was seemed very empty.

“I told them to get the hell out of my home because my daughter was abducted. Most of them listened.” He stopped abruptly and stared at Jaedon. They turned toward each other and a smile slipped across the king’s face as he reached past him, their faces drawing very close, and he pressed his hand on the wall.

The wall behind Jaedon made a loud clank sound and began to roll up into the ceiling. Behind the false stone wall was a recessed silver hallway. Together they took a couple of steps down into the hallway. “Jeez, I thought you were going to kiss me.”

The King scoffed at him, “You wish.” He continued to talk as they walked down a much less inviting but much more modern hallway. “I have something I need you to do.” Their steps made an echoing noise as they walked. “You know that our government is trying to free my daughter. In many ways, I don’t trust them. I want you to go undercover to Terra Firma’s prison on Saturn’s moon Tethys and free her.” They were passing lights every couple of hundred feet down the hall and he waited so that his face had a dramatic shadow before the king stopped and said more. “However, it will not be easy. You will need an additional person, and I want you to free three people, not just one.”

“The whole moon is a prison complex.”

“I know. Let’s sit down.” He waved Jaedon down the hall and they continued walking in silence until they reached a set of metal doors. When Jaedon reached to open one for the king he found out that they were exceptionally light. When he pulled the door it flung open quickly and ricocheted off the wall slamming with a loud thud.

“They’re aluminum. It’s an easy way to throw people off guard if it’s their first time here. They look heavy and the lack of weight surprises newcomers.”

He laughed, “You’re tricky.”

“I’m a King, I have to be to survive. Additionally, I’m a King with no real power.” He opened the door for Jaedon this time. It opened to a small meeting room which only contained a small round table with four chairs. “This room isn’t for impressing people, it’s for the actual business. It’s also the confidential sound can get in, but not out. Do you like it? It’s new.”

They sat across from each other. “Yeah, it’s a nice room, very um, you.” He didn’t quite know what to say to the casual question in the extremely formal setting. But he figured he got the right answer because the king smiled broadly. Jaedon continued “Okay, so, how do you expect me to break 3 people out of a prison that is designed to keep people in by both: needing a spacecraft to get out alive and making them think they are living a normal life instead of being imprisoned?”

“You’ll be a history teacher.” Jaedon blinked a couple of times to make sure he saw the King of Venus had said that with a straight face and it wasn’t some weird joke. “We will give you a teaching degree, then we get you a job teaching at the school. You will smuggle in your protege Alestra. She will be in disguise as a security guard. She will back you up however best you see fit. Her mission is off the books, not even the Senate knows she will be there.”

Jaedon sighed. Yet another unreasonable request from the King of Venus. “What if I can’t rescue them all? Who even am I rescuing besides your spoiled child?”

The King glared at him slightly. He shifted and leaned forward. “My daughter, who you call spoiled, as well as two boys.” The king shifted again. “I am going to arrange for an official mission from our government which will sound very similar except that you are only watching over my daughter until we can arrange her release.”

Jaedon nodded, “Okay, who are the two boys?”

The King continued the briefing carefully watching Jaedon’s face. “Samuel Knudsen is recently imprisoned. He is of interest to us because he was imprisoned for undergoing female to male sex reassignment surgery. His ancestors helped us build the ship that we were able to use to escape from Earth. He may be a strong mechanical and physical force to help us create some technology to win this war. Their government hasn’t noticed his value and this is a perfect way to recruit him.” Jaedon shifted uncomfortably.

He coughed and kept going, “Timothy Li has been imprisoned most of his life. His parents were training him in energy manipulation and magic. The whole family was arrested when he lost control of a ball of fire as a child. The incident injured his mother and destroyed their home. He and his father have been imprisoned since the incident in separate sections of the prison. It is clear he has a gift, they haven’t noticed his potential but we have. His mother died due to injuries sustained in the incident.”

There was a rumbling from outside the room. “Is that thunder?”

“That’s no storm.” The king stood up quickly and turned toward the door. As the rumbling got louder it became clear they were quick footsteps. The door flung open and subsequently slammed shut without anyone entering the room. The king knew who it was, there was only one other person who had access down here at this point. “What do you want Senator Le’Rue?”

The door opened again and a man wearing a fancy business suit with black hair stood in the doorway. “I want to know why you brought a special ops member of the military down to this secret room for a private conversation.”

“I am briefing him on the mission he is about to be assigned since it is regarding my daughter I have a personal interest.”

“That mission has not yet been approved by the Senate, and who said he would be assigned?” He moved closer to the king.

This time the king moved closer to him and stood as tall and as intimidating as he could. “I am your king. The damsel in distress is my daughter. There is no way the Senate won’t approve the mission. Jaedon is our best special operations agent. There is no way he won’t be assigned.”

Le’Rue scoffed. “Please, you have no real power you’re a figurehead for the public. Down here the fact that you’re a king means nothing. It means even less that she’s a princess.”

The King of Venus raised her hand as if waving at Le’Rue and muttered something under her breath. A symbol on the back of his robe lit up in a green hue and Le’Rue was knocked to the ground as if a massive uppercut hit him in the jaw. “Just like you put on a show for the public by respecting me, I put on a show too. The Senate doesn’t operate down here, it operates up there. Stay there and think about what you’ve done.” The king turned back to Jaedon, “He won’t be able to move for a couple of hours. Let’s go find somewhere private because this room isn’t it.”