Earth Is Mine

Chapter 15

The first thing I notice about Spica is that it has the most orange atmosphere and three very large moons. All three are deserted. The previous Plutonian monitoring units are empty and devoid of soldiers or red lights. Lucian said it would be this way, all the soldiers in the universe have either been called back to support Lazarus in this war or sided with Lucian. 

There is little to no one left to occupy each colonised planet's moons but that doesn't mean that Lazarus can't track us. They still have the powerful Central Command, the all seeing eye of the Plutonian empire. 

All they need is one activated tracker, one unblocked transmission disclosing our coordinates like Cetus did and we'd be exposed once again. I'm sure news of the rebel base must have reached everyone under the empire by now. 

I wonder what twisted story Lazarus has spun out of his latest conquest. Needless to say, the Spican's weren't too keen to receive us but the fact that they have means we still have hope. 

Luna packs our things into a pocket sized suitcase while Lucian and Pollux manoeuvre the ship towards a landing base. We pass through its dense cloudy atmosphere and glide over the surface of the planet. 

I help Luna pack some food just in case but I am mostly distracted by the deep greenery the planet houses. 

Large leaves form a scaffolding above the vast number of trees like an enormous blanket. The shade under them must be immense. I can tell that the leaves are green but they are so dark, from up here they look black. 

Every now and again there would be a stark red bunch sticking out like a sore thumb but the entire surface is cloaked with these enormous plants. If they weren't so magnificent, they would be menacing. 

The sky is dark, even the trees and the floors are dark. We finally come across a stretch of land devoid of trees and then I see a large city of grey. There are numerous long skyscrapers that reach for the sky with grey pointy tips that merge with smoky clouds. 

We fly over the city and I take in the bustling streets, churning factories and slow moving vehicles. 

"They have cities like this all over the planet. They are more like large factories, processing their resources for trade," Lucian says and I am certain he is talking to me because the other two seem familiar with the place. They must have travelled here before. 

"They live here?" I ask. The city is dark and gloomy, it reminds me of the mines in the South and I can't imagine anyone wanting to live under such conditions.

"No, they work in the cities but choose to live in their nature homes under the trees," Lucian replies. "Those are very beautiful."

We whizz past the dull, dusty confines of the city until we reach a clearing with a long cement road. 

The ship lowers and I feel the familiar jolt when our magnetic fields connect with the ground, slowing us down till we stop. 

Something emerges from the sky, a large black shadow and for a second my heart jumps in my chest. I clutch the sides of my seat in worry and cast nervous glances at the rest but they don't look as worried as I am. 

The dark being hovers in front of our ship and it is only then that I realise it is an alien sitting on top of a large bird with wings that stretch out to both sides of our ship. 

The alien's arms flex as he holds on to the reigns around the bird's neck and then he holds up a hand and waves at us. 

We exit the ship and meet him outside. Up close I can see that his skin is the same dark grey as the sky, hard and uneven like rock. He has straight hair that falls down his back and long pointy ears that twitch ever so often.