Will You Be On Time Dear?

Everyone knows that the first born child of a ruler is usually the heir to the throne unless the heir is disqualified due to some reason/s. It is also usual for a monarch to wish for a male child since most of the societies are patriarchal. Where matriarchy is the ruling force, a girl child is desired. Naturally, everyone associated with the empire of Ambapuram – both friend and foe was waiting anxiously to see who the heir would be. Everyone had their own reasons and expectations.

Empress Kavitha knew all this but she bore it all with patience. She knew she couldn’t afford to be tensed when she was in her final trimester and her waters would break anytime now. Her parents and her in-laws were also there beside her to boost her morale and keep her happy in this crucial time. Only one person was missing.

Emperor Manoj had been on a diplomatic mission on a neutral world to settle a dispute with a neighbouring empire peacefully. She had been patiently waiting for his return after having heard that the mission had been successfully completed.

“Aththayya (mother in law), will he be here on time?” she asked her Rajamata Madhavi. The lady was sitting beside the expectant mother. “Don’t worry Kavitha. He will be here on time if not in time. By the time the child is born, he will be ready to take it in his arms.” Kavitha smiled and her waters broke.

*********

“Faster!!” Emperor Manoj barked in impatience. “Make it go faster!”

“We are already 250% above full speed your Majesty. The Ship will blow up if we go faster which is a risk the empire can’t afford Sire.” Admiral Sathish spoke trying to pacify the Emperor. No one else dared to speak to the emperor when he was like this.

“It is too slow!” Manoj was fuming. The journey seemed to take forever. “I don’t want to be late!”

“You will be on time your Majesty.”

“If I am late, your head will roll!” The Admiral gulped in fear. There was only so much he could do and he couldn’t say that aloud if he wanted to stay alive. Being executed by his own emperor was no way to go for an Admiral.

He personally went round the bridge of The Silent Assassin egging the crew on and checking everything. He didn’t have to do it but he was too nervous to stand and do nothing when the emperor was angry.

The Silent Assassin was The Spaceship that carried the emperor and was the best in the universe. 392 kilometers long, the ship had everything that humanity could think of. The engineers had designed her with every kind of situation in mind – offense, defence, rescue, you name it – she had it.

Despite the vast size, the ship was the fastest in the universe. She had warp capabilities that helped in covering vast distances very quickly. She even had Point to point wormhole technology to move like lightning in emergencies. But the world they had gone to was on the edge of the Koumara Galaxy – a relatively young galaxy on the far most borders of the universe. They had had to traverse 800 galaxies to reach the neutral world of Dharma Kshetram – the world of Dharma.

Even with PTP Wormhole tech it would take at least three years to reach Ambapuram. He was confident that he would just make it in time to see the newborn child. He was pushing the engine room hard rotating the 500 reactors that powered the ship. She needed only 75% of the reactors to go 250% above the acceptable top speed of 1 galaxy per day. He needed all 500 reactors if he wanted to go 500% above the top speed but then he would have no reserve reactors available and one by one the reactors would fail and they would be stranded.

Manoj knew he was pushing the crew too hard and he couldn’t afford to be stranded in space and wait for a rescue. His job right now was to reach Ambapuram without any hiccups. Would he?

He turned to go into his chambers when the alarms started blaring.

“Report!” Admiral Sathish barked.

“Proximity alert sir. Unidentified fleet of unknown origin approaching us.”

“Engage Cloak”.

“Aye, Aye, sir. Engaging cloak.” A few taps of controls followed the reply. “Cloak engaged sir.”

“Distance of this fleet?”

“8 light years sir.”

“Have they detected us?”

“No sir.”

“Enemy numbers?”

“At least 5000 battleships of different design and size sir. None of them are in our records.”

“Any view of the enemy fleet?”

“Yes sir.” The technician opened the view screen and battleships of different sizes and shapes could be seen. The largest were shaped like crocodiles while the smallest were like lizards. The medium sized ones were like komodo dragons.

“Looks like a lizard like species.” Someone remarked. Manoj looked at the view screen carefully.

“Zoom in the flagship!” the flagship was like a dinosaur. Manoj went pale as he read the letters on the flagship. “Evasive action! Change coordinates. Battle stations!” the crew immediately swung into action bringing the ship to full battle status in no time.

*********

The royal palace of Ambapuram was in an uproar. Empress Kavitha was in labour and the palace was under attack! Chief War General Kishore was furious. Something like this had never happened before. 50% of the digital security systems had been disabled and no one had been the wiser.

Now there was a deadly hand to hand combat going on between the invaders and the defenders. Half of the royal guard had already fallen and the rest were struggling to keep the enemy at bay.

Princess Satyabhama had already assembled the women battalion to defend the Rani Rudrama palace where Empress Kavitha was. She also had all the exits and entrances heavily guarded. She herself was guarding the royal family with the Chennamma Guard – the elite women commandos guarding the empress.

Her job had been complicated by the empress going into labour. It was the most unfortunate coincidence that could have tragic repercussions. Why was Goddess Durga testing them like this? What had they done?