The Caverns of Kronos

Kronosia - Part 7

     “It works!” cried Shaun jubilantly when they arrived back at their apartment, having sent Sejanus back to his normal duties. “We’ve been back in Grand Central, on Tharia!”

     Lirenna gave a squeal of joy and flung herself at the soldier, hugging him tight.

     “Do I get one of those?” asked Matthew, grinning, and she happily obliged while Thomas laughed, feeling only the tiniest pang of jealousy. She then hugged the others as well, saving Thomas for last.

     “We’re free!” she cried, tears flowing down her cheeks and dampening Thomas’s neck. “We’re going home!”

     “Not so fast,” said Diana, however. “You’re all forgetting. There’s one thing we have to do first.”

     “What’s that?” asked Jerry.

     “We promised the moon trogs we’d stop the Kronosians from invading them,” replied the cleric. “We can’t go home and leave Kronos in the grip of tyranny, particularly since we’re partly responsible for it.”

     “But we’ve already done that, surely,” said Matthew. “The teleportation chamber’s unlocked and they’ve got the Necklaces of Vacuum Breathing. All we’ve got to do is tell them so and they can all go home any time they like, leaving Kronos entirely to the moon trogs.”

     “It’s not as simple as that,” replied Diana though. “The Konnens are likely to want to keep Kronos as a base of operations while they establish a bridgehead on Tharia. Right?” She looked around at the others. Thomas nodded reluctantly while Jerry looked thoughtful. “They’re not going to want to plunge straight into the unknown,” continued the cleric. “They’re going to want a place they can fall back to if things go wrong. Also, they could bring a huge workforce back up here to carry on mining iron, exactly what the moon trogs are most afraid of. Or just enslave the moon trogs and get them to mine it for them."

     “She’s right,” agreed Thomas, nodding. “And then there’s all the optical fibre.”

     “What do you mean?” asked Shaun.

     “Optical fibre is worth ten times its weight in gold, due to the fact that the trogs have a monopoly on the stuff. But Kronos is full of optical fibre. Think of all those lights in the tunnels and caverns, shining with sunlight brought down from the surface. If the Konnens stripped it all out, they’d have a virtually limitless source of income.”

     “Lirenna gasped in horror. “They wouldn’t do that, surely!”

     “Wanna bet?” said Thomas. “Or they might just get the moon trogs to produce optical fibre for them, along with all the other wonders of trog alchemy. Glowbottles, glass ceramic armour, trogsteel and so on. Kronos will become a Konnen slave moon, producing wealth for the Konnens while they live it up, carving out an empire down on Tharia. No way are they going to just abandon Kronos. They’d be fools to.”

     “So it’s up to us to make them give it up,” said Diana. “It’s our moral duty. And besides, we promised the moon trogs we’d help them and I keep my promises.”

     “Fine words,” said Shaun, “but you're forgetting one thing. We are all serving members of the Beltharan army, including you, sister. It is our sworn duty to return to duty as soon as we possibly can.” He looked around at the others. “That means now. We can all be back on Tharia within the hour. Then we begin the long journey back to Ilandia…”

     “No! We can't abandon the moon trogs!” insisted the cleric. “I won’t abandon them!”

     “We have no choice. We have our orders. We were sent to find the priest with the Sword of Retribution. When we've done that, or failed to do it, our orders were to return to duty as fast as possible. Any deliberate delay in returning home is desertion.”