Page 5 of Interlude

“Yes, we control the orb of power. We have since the Una’s disappeared. Their final act was giving the Adams family control. It is why the circus was founded. Although the orb is contained by a special barrier, which they promised us would keep its power signature safe, they recommended we never stay in one place for a permanent amount of time,” he tells the four who weren’t already in the know.

Various looks cross their faces, but it’s Maxsim’s low growl that has me worried.

“What’s wrong?” I ask the alpha.

“We are never going to be safe as long as that orb exists,” he snarls. “Even if we take care of the Syndicate, now that the rumor is out there, It’s not contained any longer. My omegas and our babies are in danger.”

Of course that’s his first thought. I feel the same way about my own children, but I have no other suggestions. I brace myself and make him an offer that I really don’t want to, but I’m not selfish enough to keep him in danger.

“If you and Echo would like to return to Iceen for the time being, I would understand,” I tell him.

“No, Lila,” Cas protests, but Link nods his agreement, knowing it’s only going to get more dangerous from here on.

“Will you come with us?” Maxsim asks, and I blink with shock. “You are part of our streak. We won’t leave you in danger,” he growls like he’s insulted I suggested it, and I melt a little.

I wriggle in Silac’s grip. He’s been mostly quiet since he calmed, and I’m worried he’s one wrong word away from striking Brannock down, but he stays where he is while I hurry over to give my alpha a hug.

“You know I can’t. I have to stay here,” I tell him, running my hands through the fur on his back as he grips me tightly. His worry and anxiety are almost as bad as Brannock’s now. “But I promise to be careful.”

“Then we will stay too,” he declares, his own arms tightening around me before he releases me. “I will help deal with the Syndicate so it will be safe for our family.”

“I’m not sure we’re ever going to be safe. I think it’s time we considered a new home for the orb. If we could destroy it, we would have already,” William tells us.

“What about dropping it in one of the volcanoes on Fluxx?” Tirrian suggests, an occasional puff of smoke still billowing from his nose.

“It would only blow up the planet, and the orb would survive,” John tells him, shaking his head.

“What about in the cavern where we got the flamegem from?” Link asks, but it’s Xavier who shakes his head this time.

“No, we already know that there are ways in and out of it. They proved that with Liliana.”

I’ve been listening half-heartedly to their suggestions and have an idea of my own. “What about the warlock home world?” I ask my husband. “That isn’t even on our plane. Nobody would know it was there, and nobody could access it. Only people bonding with their intimate and you and your parents can ever go there. Let’s face it, intimate bonding is enough of a distraction that nobody will be thinking about the orb.”

My grandpas’ eyes widen with the promise of a solution, but Xavier shakes his head.

“No, there is still a warlock race that lives on that planet, and we wouldn’t want them getting their hands on the ultimate power. Warlocks are power hungry, so I can’t imagine what the originals are like. We would be giving another plane of existence our problem.”

“How do you destroy it?” Silac asks quietly. “Can we do that?”

Eric shakes his head. “Not without wiping out a good portion of our galaxy. It’s why it was never destroyed in the first place. The Una’s were remorseful that their experimentation created such unlimited but unusable power.”

“Why is it unusable though?” I ask, not entirely sure why. “If it’s an unlimited source of energy, then why not make it available to everyone?”

“Because if it was manipulated in the wrong way, it would become a power vacuum with the ability to destroy planets in the blink of an eye,” John explains, but I feel confused.

“But how?”

“Kind of like the Death Star.” Eric uses terms I can understand. “A focused beam of laser through the orb increases the power a million times, which will destroy planets. It’s what started the war. Originally, the Una’s gave the power to planets throughout the galaxy. They placed a spark from the orb in a centralized location on each planet, and it produced unlimited energy, powering everything, such as vehicles, homes, machines, and technology as well as making crops abundant and keeping animals and plants healthy. Even the beings on the planets were healthy. It had godlike powers. Planets and realms thrived, but of course some races couldn’t leave it at that. They wanted to know what else they could do with the spark, so they started experimenting.”

“And that’s how our leaders discovered that if you concentrated a laser beam through the spark that you could destroy a planet. They experimented on one at the far edges of the galaxy—an uninhabited moon. They tried to keep it a secret, but not everyone involved with the project was interested in subjugation, and word got out,” Brannock explains, his firsthand knowledge invaluable. “The Una’s gathered the sparks and returned them to the mother orb, declaring it was too dangerous. Most of the galaxy agreed, but the leaders of my people were not happy, and we went to war. It was five years of hell, but unbeknownst to us, our leadership had prepared for such an occasion. Every Aaz’axian was implanted with a control chip at birth, a gift from some cyborg entrepreneur who was enamored with one of the Aaz’axian kings. Either we fought or died.”

“God, that is barbaric.” Saxon scowls. “Vilaxians are a warrior race too, but we would never force our people. Once you’ve done your two years of mandated service, you can do whatever you choose.”

“Is that still a possibility? You being activated?” Link asks, and Brannock shrugs.

“I guess. I don’t know what happened to our leadership. As far as I know, they were all killed, and I’m assuming that technology was lost, but someone could very well have it in case any of us reappear.”

“And Smith knows about you. This is a problem,” Xavier points out.

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