Allor and Canto stood in front of the body of their mother on the altar in the temple. Behind them the temple was filled with The Expected, their now black robes filling the building with a solemnity.
“We will find them,” said Canto. Allor did not respond.
“And when we find them, slow revenge,” Canto added.
“That won’t bring her back,” Allor replied.
“No. But it will bring us back. Back from grief.”
Pens came up to them.
“My Lord and Princess,” he said, and bowed to them. “We have captured the man in Tal’s room. We have the assassin.”
“Who is he?” asked Canto.
“One of the young men of The Expected. The guards saw him running from the room after Mother Tal was murdered.”
“Where is he?” asked Allor.
“He is being held in one of the cells below us,” Pens replied.
“I will need you both now more than ever. Pens, I will need you to take on the work of Tal.”
“I will, my Lord.”
Two hours later, Allor was in his quarters sitting on a chair at the table. A man stood in front of him. And old man with white hair but eyebrows still black.
“Eckly, now is not the time to claim your age as a reason for failure,” Allor said.
“I’m not, my Lord. It was a misunderstanding. I said my age permitted me no speed in chasing men. However, my faculties are still fast for figuring out a thing or two.”
“Good,” said Allor.
“But my faculties are not having much success. Did you see the sky last night?”
“No, I was occupied with the death of my mother,” Allor said with an annoyed tone.
“Well, it was interesting. Right about the time that Mother Tal was taken from us, three bubble ships were seen leaving the temple. They flew west towards the ocean.”
“And you are suggesting that I executed the wrong man?”
“I’m not sure, my Lord. But what would explain the three bubble ships? They were not yours or Canto’s or Pens’s. It might have been Tal’s device, for I haven’t found it.”
“What are you saying, Eckly?”
“My Lord, we have exceeded the number of bubble ship devices you have. This can only mean that there are more of them that we were not aware of. Also, given the time of the sighting, it would make for a most excellent escape device for the killers. I was intending to question that man in custody to get his story and see how it fits or contradicts with this. Unfortunately, my Lord had already taken his head.”
“Pens assured me that he was the killer. He was seen coming out of her quarters at the time of her death.”
“And yet the killer decided his best method of escape was without his clothes,” replied Eckly.
“What?”
“His clothes are still neatly folded on the bench beside the bed,” replied Eckly.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes,” replied Eckly. “In order for me to find something, it is valuable for me to understand something.”
“What do you mean?” Allor asked.
“Tell me about the bubble ships and the personal protection suits again,” replied Eckly.
Allor spared no details in his explanation, even though as he spoke he knew that Eckly would realize that the Lord God Allor was just the man Allor, made special by alien technology. Eckly listened and asked many questions about the origin of the devices and learned of the fallen spaceship and the adventure of two young boys.
At the end of it Eckly was very quiet for many tox. Finally, he spoke.
“It is very likely that the people from the stars have returned.”
Later that night, Allor was out walking the capital cloaked as he wandered among his people. He watched as his father stood on the stairs shouting about the empty void of man.
“We feel a void in us because we don’t understand,” his father yelled loudly to the small crowd of about forty persons gathered around him. “And there are those that will take advantage of this need to understand. They have pretty packaged explanations, explanations simple enough for all of us to understand. But what if the answer is something much more complex? What if the answer is not found in the great cults of Earth 7? What if the answer is out there, among the stars?”
Many of the crowd grumbled in disbelief. A few made rude hand gestures and one person threw a piece of fruit.
Allor made his way back to the temple.
The next morning he woke to the sound of birds on his balcony.
It was only a few tox before he discovered that his personal transportation device was missing.