Chapter 21
Captain Alicron Qinov
“Patch into radio communications. I want to see if we are in close enough range to contact the base on my plan,” I said to the pilot.
“Yes, Captain,” he responded as he went to work on the communications line.
I was not looking forward to going back home and dealing with my father and brothers, but it was necessary. I just wanted to get it over with in order to get a ship with a good amount of my army on it to go find my crew on X003. We could not waste more than a day on my home planet. This would need to be very swift, and it would be better to get as much of it over with through communications as possible. Besides, you could not just enter the air space around Xeion. You had to call it in and get permission to land. Since I was not in a Kynon ship, I would have to identify myself and explain. This was going to be a shit show.
“I have established a communication line. It is unknown to me. It is Proctor 87246,” the pilot said.
“That is it. That is my base. I am ready,” I said as I took my position in front of the video camera monitor screen. “Open the patch,” I said.
“Patch opening,” he said. I cleared my throat.
“This is Captain Alicron Qinov. Requesting open communications with Xeion Base 1. I repeat, this is Captain Alicron Qinov; does anyone copy?” I said this over and over knowing that the transmission would take a while to be watched and then approved.
“This is Xeion 1, communications leader twenty-five responding.” Suddenly a transmission appeared on the video monitors. I recognized him. I knew him.
“Greetings. This is Captain Alicron Qinov. Are you receiving my video signal? Can you see me?” I asked.
“Yes, receiving and seeing you loud and clear,” he said.
“Good. This is Captain Alicron Qinov. I lost my ship; it crash-landed on the planet of X003. I hired a ship to bring me to Xeion. The ship’s identification is ship number 4105. I am requesting permission to enter Xeion airspace and to land,” I said.
“Of course, Captain Alicron Qinov. You know the code that you were given when you left for reentry?”
“Yes,” I said. The code was changed for every mission. This was to prevent others from using it. “The code is 309064,” I said.
I watched as he ran the numbers. “Code is accepted. You are cleared to enter Xeion and land. I am putting out an identification alert on your ship number. Will you be landing at the royal port, Prince Qinov?” he said.
I did not want to. But in the interest of doing this in a timely manner, I knew I might as well land on top of my palace home. This way I did not waste time going through the streets of Gora just to get to the palace.
"Yes. Prepare the royal port landing,” I said. “Our estimated arrival is in an hour,” I said.
"Yes, Captain,” he said.
“Please alert my father, the king, that I will be arriving and the circumstances of my mission,” I said.
“Yes, we will alert the king. Anything else, my Prince?” he asked.
“No, that is all, thank you. Ending communication,” I said.
“Communication over and out,” he said.
The communication line ended.
“Prince? Did he call you a prince?” I heard a familiar voice say from the hall. I turned to see Vicki standing there with shock on her face.
"Vicki, I thought you were asleep. I told you that I would get you when we were about to land,” I said annoyed that she had overheard the conversation.
“It sounds to me like we are about to land. Now answer my question,” she said.
“Yes, he called me a prince,” I said.
“You mean to tell me, that you are a prince on your planet?” she said walking into the room.
“Yes, but I prefer to be called Captain. I earned that title; it wasn't given to me,” I said.
“Unbelievable! Why didn't you tell me? Your father is the king? This is crazy,” she said.
“I didn't tell you because it is none of your business. It's not relevant,” I said.
“Not relevant? You want me to be your lifetime mate. It is relevant to me,” she said putting her hands on her hips. I was used to this angry stance of hers.
“You would've learned eventually, but it doesn't change anything,” I said.
“Yes, it does. You are a prince! A fucking prince! That is huge,” she said.
“Oh my god, what is that,” Nancy interrupted as she came on to the flight deck. She was looking out the windshield.
I turned to see what she was looking at. I smiled.
“That is my home planet. That is Xeion,” I said looking at the blue and green marble in front of us.
“It looks a lot like Earth,” Nancy said.
“Yes, except I believe we have more land than ocean,” I said looking at my home with pride.
“This is your planet? And by yours, I mean you rule over it,” Nancy said not letting the prince thing go.
“Yes, exactly,” I said.
“What do you mean you rule the planet?” Nancy asked.
“It seems that Captain Alicron Qinov here has been keeping a secret from us. He is not Captain Alicron Qinov. He is Prince Alicron Qinov. Not Captain.” Vicki sneered.
“Prince? Are you serious?” Nancy said.
“It is not important. Now if you would let us get to work, I have to guide this pilot to where to land,” I said turning to the pilot and starting to give out the direction.
I could still hear Nancy and Vicki in the background discussing the fact that I was part of the royal family. I didn't want to deal with it. It wasn't as fascinating as they thought. It was a pain in the ass. If I had a choice, I would only be a captain, but I was born into what I was born into.
I guided the pilot and took the wheel myself, steering the ship into the atmosphere of my beloved planet. Then a few minutes later we were hovering over the great city of Gora. I headed for the white palace that was my home. There was a landing port on the very tip-top of one of the towers. The white marble glistened in the sun. The flags of the Kynon race billowed in the light breeze. It was beautiful. My heart went out to it. But I couldn't get sentimental; this was only a quick visit, and I would have to get back out on the path to X003 to save my crew.
“This is absolutely beautiful. It is breathtaking,” Vicki said standing behind me.
“I am glad that you like it,” I said.
“Is this place real? It is so beautiful. I can't believe how much nature there is. I absolutely love it,” Nancy said.
“Yes, perfect for one of your yoga retreats, isn't it?” Vicki teased her. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I knew that she was trying to make a joke.
“Please take your seat and buckle in; the landing can be a bit rough,” I said giving them orders. They took seats behind me and buckled in.
I moved us forward in a diving position, diving down toward the palace. A round red circle marked the spot for landing.
“Oh my God, is that all for you?” Vicki asked.
As we approached the landing pad, there were two long lines of Royal guards holding up the Kynon flags. They were twirling the flags in unison. This was the typical landing that you would see when a royal was landing.
“This is annoying. I ask them not to do this,” I said.
“Holy shit,” Nancy said.” You really are royalty.”
“Coming in for landing; set out the landing gear,” I said to the pilot trying to concentrate on the landing.
“Landing gear is out and locked,” he said.
“Landing ship touchdown. Lock position. Engage brakes,” I said.
The ship touched down with grace. “Engines off. Open door,” I commanded.
I unbuckled my belt. I turned around and looked at Vicki. Her eyes were in our road. She was pissed off. Obviously, the show of the Royal guards was too much for her. I could tell that she was not happy about this.
"Let's go. I will escort you inside the palace, and you will be shown two rooms where you can shower, have a change of clothes, rest, and eat. I will come for you after I meet with the king,” I said.
“Yes, your highness,” Vicki said as she stood up and bowed before me. Nancy put her hand over her mouth trying not to laugh.
This was going to be harder than expected. Not only that I have to deal with my father, but now I had to deal with Vicki. There was never any satisfying this human female. Why was she so challenging?
“Pilot. Secure the ship. I will have a guard come take you to a room as well, to the military barracks where are you will be taken care of and can get some rest. Do not worry; the Lana are a friend to the Kynon,” I said to him.
“Thank you, Captain,” he said as he went back to work securing the ship.
I looked at the human females. “Shall we?”
I didn't wait for an answer. I stood at the top of the ramp of the ship in the doorway.
“All hail Prince Qinov!” the guards said in unison. Then trumpets sounded loud and with the call of the royal family. The king appeared at the other end of the guard line, coming out of the tower with my three brothers behind him. He looked regal as ever, but even from this distance, I could see the disappointment on his stoic face. I took a deep breath. It was now or never.
I stepped off of the ramp with the two humans behind me. I could see the guards move their eyes toward them. There weren't very many human females on the planet, and it was a treat to see one. Especially two that were as beautiful as Vicki and Nancy. We walked down the line of guards until I reached my father.
“Father. I have returned,” I said bowing my head.
“Welcome back, son. There is much to discuss,” he said.
“Yes, and not a minute to lose. Brothers,” I said nodding to them. They nodded in return. I watched as they looked at the two humans behind me. They were very impressed. A bit of jealousy went through me; they could not have Vicki. She was mine. I would have to make that clear that I had already mated with her, claimed her.
“Let us go into my chambers,” my father said.
“Yes.” He turned, and I followed him. But not after stopping one of the Kynon female maids.
“Take my two guests to my living quarters giving them two guestrooms. Make sure they have warm baths and change of clothes and food and drink. I will be along later,” I said.
“Yes, Prince Qinov. Right this way, human females,” she said gesturing for them to follow her. I looked at Vicki. She had a strange look on her face. It was fear. She did not want to leave my side. I nodded to her, letting her know that it was all right. Then she and Nancy followed the maid, and I followed my father, ready for all of his glorious wrath.