The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(96)

‘I remember. So this thing is called a stalbrux,’ Mariah marveled at the new-found freedom. She turned to the royal figure. ‘Why are we here?’

‘I have carefully thought over what you said. You were most unhappy that I did not tell you everything. You have trained more here since then, and I have been most impressed.’ He let out a long breath. ‘Very well. I will tell you more. Ted is on Tritillia.’

‘Whoa!’ I said, holding both my hands out in excitement. Then I furrowed my brow. ‘Where is Tritillia?’

‘It is a planet several light years away from here. We have found Theodore's coordinates! Look here.’


As we watched, mesmerized, a hologram emerged from an inscription on the marble floor. A third-dimensional luminescent figure developed before our eyes. It was a planet on display, spinning with exquisite detail. The king walked over to the glowing image of the planet and gingerly pressed his finger on a specific spot on the planet’s surface. ‘Here. See this tiny heat signature. It is much too hot to be anything other than a vessel on fire. These readings are old, but we believe he could still be in the vicinity. Plants do not need warmth as much as we do. They have no need for a fire.’

‘Plants?’ I asked, bewildered.

‘Tritillia is a planet of giant sentient plants,’ Trazuline said, his eyes serious.

‘Oh my gosh,’ Mariah covered her mouth. ‘Are they dangerous? Is Ted safe?’

‘Rest assured he is still alive. We have observed that his signature is still active. But we have noticed another separate signature here—much larger—and alarming.’

‘What is it?’ Mariah asked, breathless.

‘My gut tells me it is an invasion. We are not sure why or where they are headed. Since the Dark King Quasikeum took control of the army, the powerful within the Elon race—but still a minority—has sided with Odion under our noses.’

‘Elons?’ I asked.

‘The dominant plant race of Tritillia. Highly intelligent, and in fact, a far more evolved race than yours.’

‘Giant talking plants. How cool.’ I immediately thought of Ted. ‘What will you do?’

‘I don’t know what you want.’ Mariah decided to confess her concerns. ‘You say you are supporting Ted, but that you also support Zane. I don’t understand.’

Trazuline sighed. ‘It is not that simple. We all have a role here. My role and my beliefs will take me down the right path, but what of you and your friends? When will you start thinking for yourself or do you plan to follow everyone else’s beliefs to the end of the galaxy?’

‘Whoa, dude—I mean, sir. That’s as clear as mud,’ Dan said, puzzled.

Pritok barged into the stalbrux lair before Trazuline could answer. ‘Sire! I'm sorry to interrupt your session. I need a word.’

Mariah conveyed a tense glance to me that could be portrayed as don’t decide anything now. ‘Sounds like you have an emergency. Should we perhaps leave you, sir?’ Mariah asked with a sincerity faked perfectly from her days in theater school back on Earth.

King Trazuline placed his hand on Mariah’s shoulder and said, ‘No, we will step outside to confer for a bit. I am not through speaking to you kids. It will only take a moment.’ His eyes pleaded with us to wait.

‘Fine,’ Mariah said. King Trazuline and Pritok stepped outside after shutting the door upon us.

‘It seems too easy,’ I said.

Mariah looked at me, confused and curious. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Dude. We’re in the king’s secret chamber. He just told us he has coordinates to Theodore's position on Tritillia. And we’re alone.’ My eyes gleamed with mischievousness as I eyed the computer controls on the wall.

Mariah returned my smile. ‘I think I know what you mean.’

We started searching frantically. I played with the central computing system, and Mariah looked through his papers on the desk. The optical image of the green globe continued to rotate in the center of the room, nearly distracting us.

‘Hurry! He could return any minute now,’ Mariah said in hushed tones.

I read out loud all the names of the controls, spelled out in foreign languages. Mariah heard me talk gibberish and snapped at me, ‘Dan, this is no time to play games.’

‘I’m not,’ I said, smug in my cleverness. ‘I’m reading out the names of these controls, and the translator tells me what they say in English.’

‘Brilliant!’ Mariah squeezed my shoulder once in approval.

As I cited one caption underneath a button, the computer beeped back, ‘Live video feed.’

‘That’s it!’ I cried out as I pressed that button. My heart leapt as I saw the three-dimensional image of the monarch, appearing just as he had a few minutes ago. He was speaking, but no sound came out. This projection replaced the image of the spinning green planet.

I said, ‘I think I have it. Something is playing here. It is the king and someone else. I can't make out the other person. Come over here quick. I don't know how to turn on the sound!’

Mariah ran over and also rapidly uttered the various gibberish displayed on the panel. Acting upon the instant translation, she pressed another button and accidentally made the hologram disappear.

I groaned, ‘Whatever you just pressed took away the image. Press it again!’