Shattered Destiny: A Galactic Adventure, Episode One by Odette C. Bell Page B

something about Mark’s expression that told me he didn’t
agree with whatever Xarin was telling him.
    Finally Xarin took a step back. “You have
all been selected for this critical mission. You will all comply
with every order I give you, before we land on the planet, once we
are on the planet, and when we depart. It is critical you follow
everything I say.” For some reason, his gaze appeared to lock on
me.
    I clenched my teeth even harder, chasing
away the flighty feeling that threatened to fly through my gut.
    My gaze flicked towards Mark again, and I
picked up his angry expression once more. He smoothed it off his
face when Xarin glanced back at him, though.
    “I will lead this mission,”
Xarin stated flatly. “You will now board the transport. There will
be no questions. All you are required to do is follow orders.” With
that, he turned, the cloak swished around his
shoulders.
    I caught one last glance at
Mark, noting how momentarily dark his expression became. He even
appeared to curl a hand into a fist.
    If the rest of the crew were to be believed,
Xarin and Mark were friends. That was the only reason why a
half-Arterian half-human could hold such an important position.
    But friends did not look at friends with
such a dark menace building in their gaze….
    I was shocked into action as the soldiers
beside me pushed off with grunts.
    I was forced to follow the group as it
churned around me like a frantic school of fish fleeing from a
shark. Or, in this instance, fleeing towards one. For we all
followed Xarin at a distance down the corridor until we reached the
docking bay.
    We filed into a short-range
transport, designed to ferry soldiers from the Illuminate in orbit down to a
planet.
    Suffice to say, it was not built for
comfort. Apart from the pilot’s seat, and navigational command,
there were two long, uncomfortable benches that ran down the inside
of the elongated ship.
    I sat down, squeezed between two large
Arterian soldiers.
    I was surprised to see that there was not
some throne for Xarin to sit upon. I was even more surprised to see
that he sat down with his men, sitting at the end of the bench,
just across from me.
    His helmet was now on, and I couldn’t see
where his eyes were directed.
    And yet something told me he was staring at
me.
    He stared at me the entire trip down to the
planet.
    We had no idea why we were
going down there. Xarin hadn’t whispered a word. As he had kept repeating, he simply expected us to
follow.
    We were like loyal pets. Too foolish to
understand our master’s intentions.
    I stared at him the entire trip, never
blinking once.
    There was… there was just something about
him. Beyond the arrogance and privilege. My mind couldn’t
comprehend it, but my heart could as it beat faster.
    The trip down to the surface of the planet
took a little under 15 minutes.
    There were no windows in this section of the
ship, and the only indication that we were sweeping in to land were
proximity sensors blaring from the small cockpit.
    Before our ship touched down, Xarin rose. He
didn’t bother to lock a hand on the railing that ran above the
bench – as a violent tremble shuddered through the ship, his boots
locked onto the floor.
    The pilot turned around in his seat.
“We’ve landed. Deploying the ramp now.”
    Suddenly a door opened up behind Xarin, and
a metal ramp pushed out from a recess, cutting down to the ground
beyond.
    Instantly I was met with a
dank, earthy smell. It was worlds apart from the dusty dry odour of the refinery.
    I found myself standing and craning my neck
through the door, eyes growing wide as I saw the lush jungle
beyond.
    We were not allowed to disembark until Xarin
waved us forward with a swipe of two fingers.
    Though the move was dismissive, and should
have set my anger off anew, it didn’t. Instead, as I took a step
forward and walked onto the top of the ramp, I gasped.
    I’d never seen a planet more lush with
vegetation. It was so dense, it pushed up