A King Ascends by Jane McKay

Author:Jane McKay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jane McKay

CHAPTER 22

General Tariq paced in front of the most important machine on the planet. It didn’t seem that important to look at it, but this one machine could channel the world’s core energy. It was large and ugly looking, made of a mysterious black metal, and it stood out against the gleaming silver of the rest of the room. The table in front of the machine was large enough to hold a grown man but had a strange shape to it, as if they had made it to hold creatures shaped differently than humans. It had a humanoid shape, but the head section had holes to place horns—horns that the king had on his head. Tariq wondered whether Jon had them now. His hand moved to his own head, with its full head of hair. He wondered what he would look like without hair.

The table appeared very alien to his eyes, and he placed his fingers on the surface. Startled, he withdrew it as he felt the surface try to mold to his hand. He knew his planet’s history, but it still made him shiver to think of lying on that table. If he wanted that future, he would need to do just that.

“Do you know what this machine is, my dear Prefect?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “It is my future and my destiny.”

“I have never been in this room before. What does the machine do?”

“How does the world work, do you know, Prefect? Do you remember your lessons from when you were young? Do you remember being told that the king brought forth the physical benefits from the world?”

“Yes, but I didn’t understand. I thought it meant that the king distributed the resources.”

“That’s right, but it is a little more complicated than that. Do you have the disc that I gave you to hold?”

“Right here.” The prefect held up the one-inch-wide round disc.

“Put it on the platform.”

The prefect, holding the small disc, hastened forward and placed the small chip on the table of the machine. He hurried back to stand at the general’s side and, at the irritated look from the general, moved away to the back of the area with the other soldiers. He watched every move the general made. Sensing the power in this room, he dreamed of taking the general’s place and taking that power for himself. He doubted he would have the courage or opportunity.

General Tariq impatiently jabbed at the keyboard. A voice rang out loudly in the room. “Please enter the correct code.” He waited, and five seconds later, the disc disappeared.

He cursed under his breath. He had expected this but had still hoped. “I need that code,” he whispered. “This results from your failure, Prefect. I still need Prince Jon, but I have forgiven you for your failure, and now you will see how I will succeed where you failed.”

He turned to the man who still held the second disc. “I will take that for now. All of you go back to the transport chamber and wait for me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.