Part Four:
Bizarre Storms
(cover photo: Perpetuation, the personal cruiser of Portia Thunderstorm, streaking its way amongst the vast vacuum space of the Solar System, currently hurtling past Titan, the sixth moon of Jupiter, aka the notorious 「Prison Moon」, during her long-lasting voyage defined by her utterly obstinate rebellion against the unrightful & preposterous reign of her very own sister, Olivia Thunderstorm, of Neptune.)
Copyright of the text: @megamind
argument:
The amorous queen nurtures her jewel
In the golden cradle of the firmament
She tends to her glamorous wreath of lavender
And kindles the myriad stars like little torches.
——The Annals of Eden, Book One, page 57
Chapter1: Project Apocalypse
(cover photo: The capsule-like hull of the bulky & hulky & magnificent Boeing Cruiser Xtreme, the recommended choice for any long-distance inter-planet travel, inthis case, flight EN1097.)
Whilst Susan Morgan was paying a visit to her old home (also her birthplace), her father’s mansion by the ocean in Stockholm, Vincent Morgan was already aboard the inter-planet flight, EN1097 and streaking towards the azure planet of Neptune at the speed of over 8 percent lightspeed. He was going alone under the pseudonym of a certain 「Mr. Joseph Frost」, which was but one of his false identities which he had found to come in handy in situations like this one. Despite his careful and deliberate disguise as a senior journalist who was on an errand, he was still easily recognized by a couple of fellow passengers in Cabin Platinum (the jargon which stood for 「first-class」 during the pre-space epoch). Fortunately, every passenger who could afford a luxurious ticket to the Cabin Platinum was a celebrity or 「figure」 to a certain level, although one would doubt if any of them could be put into the same rank with Mr. Morgan, who was literally the wealthiest man in the entire Solar System, and thus none of them made a fuss about it. They only went as far as nodding politely in order to express their (heartfelt or not) admiration and reverence, and resumed their own business. It was in fact much to Vincent’s satisfaction, since he was actually on a secret journey to which the mainstream media was still kept in the dark,and one can only imagine the reaction of passengers from Cabin Silver or even less when they discovered the presence of a public sensation, should he had chosen to deign and join them when purchasing the ticket.
Now, with the comforting and not-nosy environment, Vincent Morgan was granted a complete twenty-hour solitude during which he intended to go through the annual reports of the Enterprise (since it was near Christmas), and browse his files for further details concerning the project Apocalypse. He and the majority of the board members of the Morgan Enterprise had told everyone else, including his own daughter, Susan, that the purpose of his unheralded trip to Neptune was to supervise the construction of a certain dam, whilst the hidden truth remained exclusively to him and a few members of the board that he was actually intending to negotiate with Olivia Thunderstorm, who was to be made the empress of Neptune mostly in his virtue, on the matter of the Stardust Family and the Cube.
The notion of his ingenious and seamless political movement made a hardly detectable smile appear on the usually somber and expressionless lips of Vincent Morgan, and in order to suppress his self-conceit, which could be quite hazardous considering the scale of the possible consequences should anything go wrong, he took a sip of Mars-made Barley Wine, and almost spat it back into the glass simultaneously.
This tastes like crap, thought him, the standard of wine-brewing on Mars really is sinking fast. And laying back on the soft velvet mattress, which was exclusive for Cabin Platinum, Vincent Morgan lapsed into a troubled sleep, a slumber infected and filtrated by dreams about wormholes opening, the Stardust Fleet swarming from them like locusts, and not only Washington D.C., where the hammer struck the hardest, but the entire United States falling apart under their ruthless invasion.
When Vincent Morgan woke up again, he found his shirt drenched with cold sweat from the previous sleep, and a little sparkling dot on the LCD screen above his head indicated that they were currently hurtling past Jupiter (after encircling it for the gravitational slingshot effect), which meant that the trip wasn’t going to end in another 40 hours. He got up with some difficulty (a harsh reminder that he was already an old man who was fragile to frights and nightmares), changed into a clean, dry shirt, and lapsed into contemplation sitting on the brink of his soft, classy bunkbed. Now, weary and self-doubting, he began to reconsider the decision to drag Susan, his own daughter, and her boyfriend Jim whom he hadn’t officially met so far, into the utter madness concerning the conflicts between the Morgan Family and The Stardust Family. By reaching out to Neptune and Olympus for help meant voluntarily involving another splendid force and ally, the Thunderstorm Family into the balderdash. Oh, and according to reliable source of information from within CSSI, a new power, calling themselves the Hurricane Family, was rising rapidly within the Jupiter System. Vincent Morgan was convinced deep down that once this 「draft」 really became a frivolous 「Hurricane」, there was bound to be a great war between the Thunderstorm Family and the Hurricane Family over the reign of Jupiter, and was he supposed to aid his ally? Or simply stand by quietly and let things develop at its own pace and rate? Almost instantly he denied the latter thought, for having one-hundred-percent grasp and control over the turbulent 「tides」 in the Solar System was absolutely necessary to him, as long as it was related to the interest & welfare of himself, or the Morgan Enterprise.
Then another thought made him shudder deep within, and he almost blamed himself for coming up with it. If there really is going to be a devastating war within the Jupiter System, should I send Susan to it? Then it was succeeded immediately by another: What?Send your one beloved daughter to the brutal fire and smoke of a war? Forget it. And then——If the Thunderstorm Family is to survive the war victorious, they’re going to need the Olympus Blade, which only recognizes the fingerprint of members of the Morgan Family, which basically narrows the candidates down to Susan and myself.
And I’m way too old for laser fights and battlefields. O, Susan, pray forgive your fool of a father.
And then as though to put the entire affair of the possible war to the back of his mind, Vincent Morgan turned on his laptop, and began to read the former briefings of board meetings about Project Apocalypse. In fact, the project was far from a 「spur of the moment」 whim, but a long-incubated back-up plan against the plots of Solomon Stardust. It was initiated right after Solomon Stardust succeeded his conservative father as the new CEO of Eclipse Inc. 25 years ago, four years before Susan was born, with the signature and approval of every single member of the board meeting of Morgan Enterprise, including Emily Morgan, Susan’s mother.
Thinking of his perished wife, a painful, blazing dose of hatred surged from his heart. Vincent gulped down half a glass of Mars Whiskey which ran down his throat like burning lava. After his wife was viciously murdered by Solomon Stardust, or the Lorde out of personal reason & grudges fifteen years ago, he had led a life of both an ascetic and a hermit. Gradually he faded away from the sight of the public which he had enjoyed so much during his primal years, and was fully engaged in the R & D of his business empire, at the same time searching for opportunity to strike back——have to make the scumbag Solomon Stardust pay his debt.
Five years later, he pooled in almost every drop of founding for R & D Department into the project of building an artificial intelligence, which they later dubbed 「Phoenix」, for it resembled the tenacious spirit and resolution of the Morgan Enterprise in the face of a most powerful rival. It was initially designed to serve as a substitute CEO whenever he himself was running long-time errands like this one, and also with the intellectual prowess to communicate with the Cube. During the last year, it was Phoenix who had been transmitting the clues through the unfathomable abyss of hyper-net to Jim’s software, Pandora. Thus, he was also named 「the Phantom」. Mostly coincidentally, the word 「Phantom」 also appeared in the title of Warren Frank’s sensational textbook on wormholes and spacetime, Phantom Between Worlds. Capricious and unpredictable as destiny was, it was thoughtful enough to bring the great-great-great-great grandson of the author of the textbook to the daughter of the man whose entire endeavor thrived because of the exact same book, not to mention that the ideas elaborated in Phantom also inspired the plots of Solomon Stardust and endorsed his audacious intentions to invade the earth, the last Eden in the Solar System which was not yet contaminated by the intertwined interests and conflicts betwixt the families outside. And thus, when he received a hyper-mail from Phoenix that Jim and Susan had figured out the true identity of Mr. D, he was so thrilled that he cracked open a priceless Champagne from the 21st century. Nonetheless, he didn’t forget to remind his favorite 「courtier」 and advisor to relay the third clue back to the two of them, racking his brain to fabricate its content, as he did with the first and second clue. So far, his endeavors concerning the clues had been 50 percent successful, since the second clue turned out to be obsolete, for that Jim lad had interpreted it completely in the wrong direction.
Vincent Morgan was well aware of the complicated history regarding the earliest years of theoretical studies on the subject of wormholes, and the generation of pioneers which includes Warren Frank, Owen Stardust, and Edwin Morgan, his own forefather. In fact, as an amateur physicist (the majority of his relating knowledge was picked up during the routine meetings with his Thinktank.), he had read the Phantom for many times, and exactly like his daughter, Vincent Morgan also preferred it in paperback version.
Chapter2: The Exiled Princess
(cover photo: The temporary 「cell」 prepared for Portia Thunderstorm along her exile from Neptune to Titan.)
Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough briar,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon’s sphere:
And I serve the Fairy Queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
——A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Amongst the 62 moons of the gigantic, puffy Saturn, Titan, aka the sixth moon, is perhaps the most peculiar one. With a radius of 2576 kilometers, it is slightly smaller than the rusty Mars, and all the same much more mysterious. Ever since the first probe was sent to its surface in 2067 A.D, this moon had allured the attention of both scientists and politicians. The former is intrigued by its thick clouds and pervasive lakes both made of methane, a simple, organic substance, while the latter doted its possibility of an interstellar prison. The protagonist of this chapter, Portia Thunderstorm, was transported, or rather delivered, here on this very scenario——exiled from her home planet, Neptune by none other than her own sister, Olivia Thunderstorm. Right now, the space shuttle that carried this 「felon」, the Supernova, was circling at avelocity of 1900 m/s some distance above the emerald-and-orange atmosphere of Titan, waiting for permission to land.
「Ground, this is Supernova; we have the prisoner.」
「Supernova, this is ground base. You have permission to land at port CU107.」
Portia resembled her sister in almost every way, except that she was slightly taller than the now princess of Neptune, and the features of her face softer and more gentle. During her 48 hours』 flight she smiled to every guard who delivered the meals to her, and many of them had to turn around in case they feel too much sympathy for the prisoner, which was, of course, strictly forbidden for an Inter-Solar commissioner. The food was not terrible, however, considering her social status. But two thousand meters below things might get different. Throughout the years, the most dangerous, outrageous culprits were tossed and jammed onto this small moon which so far none of them had managed to escape. Portia, however, seemed to apprehend little about her impending fate. She looked out of the small cabin window at the yellow ball that looked like a gigantic chewing gum where she was going to spend the rest of her life. She set the bowl of Io soup down at the retractable desk in front of her. Io soup was one of the most popular soup in the Solar System, made mostly of crab shells, mushroom and some orange liquid which resembled gel. Perhaps that’s why they call it Io soup, Portia thought. Just as she turned back her gaze a fine-looking young man appeared at the door.
「Ms. Thunderstorm, I am sergeant Reichenbach Stardust, and I will escort you through the inbound processes. Don’t worry; it will be quick.」 Portia stared at him with her unfathomable eyes for several seconds before her complexion relaxed and she followed him out into the corridor.
Together they went through an airtight passageway into a colossal space station where folks from different planets, some in uniforms, others in weird, exotic garments passed by before their eyes. Portia was taken through one of the many passageways, and asked many questions, including her identity, her family members, and surprisingly, how was her flight. She answered every one of them calmly, while her wrists were tied in front of her by a Neptune handcuff. Those handcuffs were casted on Neptune, and according to myths, some of them were enchanted by the wizards of Olympus. Portia had no way to confirm, not that our princess cared in the slightest.
「Very well, Ms.Thunderstorm. With all due respect, please proceed.」 The officer pushed a button on his desk, and a gate opened before Portia’s eyes. Together she and Stardust went through it, and they found another landing craft at the end of the passage.
「After you.」 Reichenbach made a genial gesture, and waited patiently for Portia to enter the compact spacecraft before he occupied the driver’s seat.
「Ms. Thunderstorm, welcome to Titan, the last Eden in the cosmic chaos that is our solar system. But of course you know that this is supposed to be a prison, but rest assured——we keep the political 『guests』 separated from the murderers and mutineers. You will live in an isolated cell, with complete and comfortable living facilities.」
Then, he turned his head to look slyly at the princess and lowered his voice,
「I know it is your sister, Olivia Thunderstorm who’s supposed to take this shuttle with me today. Every official on Titan knows it. If you need anything, feel free to ask.」 He expected her to react in some way, but Portia simply remained her marble-like, stagnant position and closed her eyes in fatigue.
「Forgive me, your highness, but you will find more help than you can possibly imagine down there.」 There he turned back, and never uttered a single word during the rest of the trip.
Earlier that day, another spacecraft arrived at the Foreign Port of Kepler with over two thousand passengers, including Jim and Susan. It was their 「virgin flight」 between planets, and when they descended by the escalator onto a platform protruding from the gigantic floating city like a stem from an apple, it was the first time for both of them to actually set foot on extraterrestrial land. The major part of Kepler City loomed before their astounded eyes——a gigantic sphere with a diameter of thirty kilometers rotating in vacuum space, combined of multiple layers with various angular velocity in order to create roughly equal and unfluctuating gravity. These layers were dubbed vividly with 「Rings」, each of which covered with condensed residential areas which could easily sustain the lives of tens of millions. Currently, only the rings closer to the center of the sphere were inhabited; according to a recent demographic survey, the density of population gradually decreased as the rings went further away from Ring α, more commonly known as 「The Royal Ring」, where the Royal Family of Neptune, the Thunderstorm Family, dwelt in their magnificent palaces and classy apartments and villas which surrounded the absolute center. The names of the Rings went all the way along the Greek Alphabet from Ring α, the Royal Ring, to Ring θ, the Deserted Ring, which was literally the dumpster of Kepler City and had scarcely any residents. Eight rings in total, coinciding with the number of planets in the Solar System (although some maintained that it wasn’t a coincidence, and that the city was built accordingly at the beginning).
The Port where Jim and Susan’s flight landed was located between Ring ε andRing ζ, aka the fifth and sixth Ring, where the density of population was moderate, and a cluster of Inter-planet Ports studded the outer brim of the Ring like many pearls on a necklace. Their space shuttle, a Boeing Star-Cruiser C300 in mint-new condition, had arrived at the Entrance to the port proximate to Ring ζ at approximately 824 hour Neptune Standard Time (aka NST), which was equal to noontime on earth, and neither of them were feeling the slightest bit of hunger since they both had a wonderful lunch in Cabin Platinum (the Morgan Enterprise had bought the two of them the most expensive tickets without waiting for their consent, and it went without saying that the previous 72 hours of flight across the immense distance of 4.5 billion kilometers was definitely the most luxurious and unforgettable journey they had ever had in their lives.), consisting a delicate slice of crystal cake (one of the most notorious local cuisines on Neptune) and abundant spaghetti and cashews for each passenger.
「Wow, Susan, believe it or not, but we’re literally at the outer rim of our Solar System!」 said Jim as the two of them proceeded through an air-tight corridor into a massive platform where the thousands of passengers were divided into various flows in different directions.
「I reckon that we should first locate a nice and cozy hotel where we can crush for a few nights, and then we pay a visit to the Palace and seek counsel with Olivia Thunderstorm, the princess.」 Said Susan, dragging her glossy pink suitcase with Stuffy, her beloved fur-bear dangling at the right side.
「Alright. Let’s see…there’s hotels on every single Ring except for Ring α and β, where the royal dwellings and CBD areas took up most of the space. However, I assume that the quality of their hotels may dwindle as they move farther from the center of the sphere. I suggest that we head for Ring γ and see if fortune favors us and there’s one which can both add a gist of comfort to our unpredictable stay on Neptune and with a medium, acceptable price.」 Said Jim, scrutinizing the illuminous LCD signs with names of places inscribed on each of them.
「Indeed. But we certainly don’t have to worry about the price;」 said Susan, winking perkily at Jim and grabbing his arm as they paced toward the gigantic sign which indicated the path to Ring γ, 「I have a literally infinite expense limit for my credit cards.」 Then she chuckled as if amused by herself.
「In plural terms? Seriously?!」
Chapter3: An Unexpected Request
(cover photo: The magnificent & well-decorated interior of Portia Thunderstorm’s guestroom located right at the topmost floor of the Dome of Kepler City.)
The chief proof of man’s real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.
——Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
「You want some of my crystal cakes?」 Susan asked Jim, holding a small piece of clear-blue crusted cake on the tip of her fork in front of her. Jim was gazing absent-mindedly at the non-stop flows of dark-blue torrents outside the gigantic circular window by which they were seated. The torrents, comprised mostly of hydrogen, was illuminated briefly at intervals by the artificial light of their city, capital of Neptune, which was named after the great astronomer Johannes Kepler. Upon hearing this, he turned his head back and said, 「No, thanks. I』ve had enough tonight.」
It was indeed a grand and spectacular night. In fact, it was the 30th birthday of Olivia Thunderstorm, the princess of Neptune, and every noble citizen of the city was supposed to dress up in the most formal way and attend the dinner which was to be followed by the coronation the next day, when Olivia will officially become the most powerful female on the planet.
The word 「town」 wasn’t actually very appropriate for describing the numerous small habitats built by the first explores who ventured their journey as far as 4.5 billion kilometers away from the earth into the desolated parts of the solar system. They managed to settle down where the storms were not that fierce, inside floating space stations. The bigger problem, however, was that it was difficult for any man-made aircraft to float in the thin air made up mostly of hydrogen, not to mention the inherent gravitational pull of the massive planet. The explorers managed to tackle the problem by ingeniously attaching a vacuum cabin to every space shuttle, making it quite look like a hot air-balloon. In the decades that followed, those pioneers constructed farms and small patches of fields inside the ever-expanding network of space stations, and a sustainable but also fragile, eco-system was finally formed on the violent, lifeless surface of Neptune. Despite all their efforts, they still couldn’t find a way to survive deeper than one kilometer below the surface of Neptune because of extreme pressures. Nowadays, farms had become food bases and small patches of fields had grown into cultivation areas so large that it only ended at the horizon, and space stations became little towns which were fully protected against the wild environment outside with complete recreation, finance and medical systems.
It had been over two months since the clue led Jim and Susan to Neptune, and still there was no sign of Mr.Davies anywhere. Christopher received his first routine vacation and had returned to earth from Jupiter Orbital Station where he had been working as an intern for four months, and they could only communicate with each other during designated time periods, which was every Neptune day from 12:00 to 13:00. (time was calculated by Neptune days, which lasted for approximately 16 hours.) The 「vacuum period」, as was called by the locals on Neptune, (there still was few permanent residential areas on Neptune, unlike Jupiter and Saturn, who had over one million residents respectively.) varies between different towns at different latitudes, for only for one hour a day would the electro-magnetic storm decrease in its strength and ferocity, and the communication facilities were rendered completely obsolete out of this particular time range.
During their stay here, however, they had developed a special bond between Olivia Thunderstorm herself, for she received some help from Susan’s father, Mr. Morgan, so that she could tamper her birthday and become the 「first-born」 in the Thunderstorm family, so as to become the empress of Neptune instead of her sister, Portia. In fact, politicians have assumed that Olivia had discreetly exiled her very own sister to the faraway moon of Titan, the permanent space-cavern for felonies, and the birthplace of new ones. And in virtue of this little 「favor」, Jim and Susan were invited over to dinner in 「her majesty’s」 own palace, which was the second highest construction in Kepler, overlooking the entire mass of buildings 700 foot below them.
To properly suit the occasion, and, also to blend in with the locals who favored plain, light-colored garments, Susan was wearing a delicate hat with neat feathers protruding from the side, and was wrapped in a long, white silk dress which extended all the way to her ankles just to reveal a pair of blue high-heels which made her almost one inch taller, nearly as tall as Jim. Jim, on the other hand, wore a somehow old-fashioned blue tuxedo with no conspicuous adornments save a small silver clip at the shirt pocket. In fact, almost every man inside the guest room was wearing similar garments; the ladies, on the other hand, had plenty of personal choices, but none of them exceeding the tradition of light colors, mostly blue, which went surprisingly well with the blue, somber storms outside the window which was their weather all year round.
「If things keep going this way, by which I mean absolutely nothing happens, I think I might get depressed on this sullen planet.」 Said Jim, as he again turned his head to face the dense clouds amongst which occasional cargo ships soared.
「Keep an open mind,」 Susan said, putting her hand on Jim’s shoulder, 「even if we have lost the clue, there’s still much fun here, especially the artificial beaches where you can get tanned even when you’re 3 billion miles away from the sun.」
「Ok, maybe we can try that someday.」 Muttered Jim, still staring absent-mindedly at the clouds.
「Also, in case you get really bored, there’s always the cruise to the Great Black Spot!」
They were half way through the dinner, and now it was time for the princess to give her long, prepared speech for this special occasion. After that, the guests were supposed to rise and dance with their partners. At present the crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were dimmed, their light-blue sparkles generated by the combustion of hydrogen (which was the most opulent energy source on the planet) reduced to the minimal, and the address began. The gorgeous duchess and empress-to-be, wearing her glamorous blue dress, stepped onto the stage. The guests, who were in the last moment feisty, dropped silent at this. Apparently, everyone anticipated the well-prepared address with keen ears. There were some among them who, like Jim and Susan, who were aware of the cunning political plot which was the only reason Olivia Thunderstorm was standing here tonight, basking in, and obviously enjoying the attention from her faithful supporters and admirers. After tonight, a firm legion of supporters was to come into shape and assist the Empress in her endeavor to purge all the remaining acquaintances and allies of her own sister, Portia Thunderstorm.
And presently her address began.
「Good evening, my fellow Neptunians. First of all, I want to thank two earthlings for everything I’m in debt of them, for without them, I wouldn’t be standing here and giving this particular speech.」 A round of applause ringed in the ballroom, and Jim and Susan eyed each other uneasily. They were pretty sure that Olivia looked in their direction when she said that, but fortunately none of the other guests recognized them. The princess continued.
「Secondly, I want to thank each and every one of you for coming here tonight, and for supporting me for all this time, through hardships and dilemmas. The prosperity of Neptune is in your virtue.」 Another round of applause. Jim and Susan joined the others, touched by the infectious emotion pervading the air.
「Throughout the reign of my own father, Labyrinth Thunderstorm, the late emperor of Neptune, our planet hadwitnessed a series of advancement and progress covering almost every field of life. Tonight belongs also to my father.」 Another, yet bigger round of applause, some of the guests even raising up their goblets for a toast. Susan smiled at Jim, but the latter was only too absorbed to notice.
「The human race has conquered this violent, distant planet for a hundred and fifty years, and the realm will hold fast against any obstacles for another a hundred and fifty years. To the advancement of science! To the accumulation of knowledge! My speech ends thus; the rest of the night is yours.」
As we have mentioned earlier, both Jim and Susan were quite familiar with Ms. Olivia Thunderstorm and her political coterie, but it still mildly surprised them when a waitress strolled to their table, and inconspicuously left a piece of note scrabbled on a piece of delicate Neptune parchment as he left.
Eyeing each other in bewilderment, Jim unfolded the note meticulously. Upon it was the slim and decorative handwriting of the duchess herself:
My private guestroom, 12:00 NST. If this is Mr. Frank, please bring Ms. Morgan with you. If this is Ms. Morgan, please bring Mr. Frank with you. Urgent business.
「Seems like an entreaty from an old friend. Hmm…I say we follow her orders and see what awaits us behind the anteroom, shall we, honey-jar?」 Jim said as he tore the parchment into thin strips, and without the molecular interaction the isolated piece of the Neptune Parchment resolved itself into the air, leaving no traces but puffs of glittering smoke.
「High tec. Again I am impressed by the Neptune folks.」 Said Jim.
「Of course you are. Their craftsmanship originated from the Olympus.」 Said Susan, rolling her eyes which were lined with azure pigment for the occasion.
「I thought the Olympus was merely afable fabricated to trick kids into some kind of wonderland. Isn’t it?」
「In fact,」 Susan adjusted her position on her seat, 「the Olympus once was called land of Ra, which was initially founded by a bunch of nature-loving people on earth back in the 21stcentury. It was recorded in a certain volume that one pilgrim carried their secrets as far as to Neptune, and taught it to the people here without omitting a single detail. That explains the advanced level of handicrafts and delicate artworks here on Neptune.」 she took a sip of her blue wine made of Highland Barley (the most common agricultural product of Mars) and continued, 「Oh, and by the way, when I was little my father gave me a quite awesome blade which he claimed to be forged from Mercury Alloy, but by the hands of Neptunian craftsmen which were blessed with dexterity. Today, it is kept in my father’s villa by the sea, inside the most invulnerable safe.」
「Impressive.」
「Indeed. But enough about me. Come on, we have a dance to proceed with.」 Said Susan, rising gracefully from her seat. Together upon the carefully polished dance floor the two of them swirled and twirled, under the bright, artificial light of the chandelier, and the permanent azure glow of Neptune.
Chapter4: Coronation Day
（cover photo: The interiors of the Royal Palace of Neptune, a colossal corridor & platform constructed with marble & steel by the adroit & dexterous hands of the most experienced craftsman of Neptune. During the years of its prime in the Second Epoch, any visitor could feel free to ascend the marble staircase leading to the magnificent & extravagant Throne of Neptune embroidered with crimson cushions & silk.）
「Greetings, Jim Frank and Susan Morgan! I’m Olivia Thunderstorm. Technically, Susan, I’m your aunt.」 Was the opening of their conversation which was had in the grand anteroom of the young princess. She was young indeed as Susan’s aunt; in fact, she was merely in her thirties.
「Greetings, your highness; what pleasure do we owe you?」 asked Susan. Jim kept silent, partly because he felt a little bit left-out, partly because he was too busy admiring the delicate antiques which were exhibited on the amber shelves around them.
「Ah, what you may help me no one else is capable of; I want you to keep a surveillance on my sister, Portia, during her exile on Titan. Of course, you won’t have to stay on the forsaken moon all the time, for that would be inhumane. What little I require of you is only to step foot on Titan once in a month, and ere you return, you shall report to me the situation of my sister. To be frank with you, I worry about her. Who knows what she might commit in the prison, or what terrible end she might come to?」 she suddenly became fey and stood up from her throne, which was cut out from a gigantic piece of indigo rock which Jim could only guess its origin. As she stood up Jim found that she was tall and fair in her azure dress, her golden hair tied up in a bun behind her head, her movements gentle and royal. Taken nothing else into consideration, she was in every way a perfect Thunderstorm, and otherwise an appropriate queen for Neptune.
It’s just that her throne was earned through injustice, thought Jim.
The then duchess strolled to the wall, where portraits of oil paintings depicting the Black Spot, and her forefathers, from Labyrinth Thunderstorm, who as Jim had heard, had just died a month ago from arterial aneurysm, and Gabriel Thunderstorm. Susan was amazed to find that next to the portrait of Gabriel, there was another one of her great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Edwin Morgan.
「Ah, I see that you have noticed the portrait of the benefactor of our family, which is also your forefather, I believe.」 She was now standing before the gigantic window behind her throne, which overlooked the city and had a great view of the streaking methane winds and torrents. 「For centuries the Morgan family had aided us, and we shall forever bear that in mind, young lady.
「The task I dispatch you to will not come fruitless for you two, my young friends,」 she held Jim and Susan’s shoulders in her arms and together they meandered from the throne to the direction of the gate, 「you shall return as knights and official counsels of Neptune, should you choose to stay. Nonetheless, the Thunderstorm family is never short in gold, if you understand.」 She winked slyly, almost as charming as a Goddess. 「Now go, for I have another appointment in ten minutes.」
「What do you think of it?」 asked Susan the next morning when they were having breakfast inside the royal chamber, where only the most honored guests or members of the royal family was admitted. Now, it was their privilege also.
「I think it’s a fair bargain. Besides, we got to taste their frozen lobsters, fresh from the natural refrigerator of their atmosphere.」 Said Jim as he cut off a piece of lobster meat.
「Don’t be silly! You do realize that we’re acting as spies now? Do you have any idea what that’s like?」
「Whoa, calm down, Sue. I think a little bit of royal espionage isn’t too bad for us. Besides, it’s an order from the queen-to-be. I don’t think we can simply turn her down.」
「Can’t argue with that.」 She sighed. 「But I have heard of the horrendous Titan and its prisons; to tell you the truth, I’m scared.」
「Oh, ye of little faith!」 Jim chaffed, 「The prisons are safe; in fact,」 he pointed out, 「it’s far safer than here, where you can be blown into that gigantic maelstrom whirling miles below us.」
「But here we are under direct political protection of Olivia and the royal family; these are the reasons that we’re still alive, Jim. I believe there are some assassins working in Portia’s favor who are trying to make us 『disappear』 for good, you know what I mean? We are not safe except on Neptune.」
Jim thought for a while, and then he spoke, now beginning to take the matter seriously,
「I suggest that we take the first visit as a trial. We use pseudonyms, and we won’t take any official flights that appear on the inter-planet time table. In this way we’re much safer. What do you say of it?」
「Fine. Count me in.」
The coronation of Duchess Olivia Thunderstorm took place that evening inside the great hall of Kepler. After tonight, she would officially be granted the title of Empress of Neptune, and before a suitable Emperor is found and wedded to her, she were to rule the planet of Neptune alone, with but minor, negligible counsel from Emerald Thunderstorm, her mother. But every Neptunian with but little sense in him knew that Olivia preferred to seize control of the realm of Neptune in her own hands, without any intruders in power, not even her own mother of birth.
Amongst the rightful candidates of Olivia’s husband, or fiancé, to be more accurate, there was a man, Hank Stardust, who stood out from the rest and gained the most affection from the lady. He was the son of the famous Solomon Stardust, aka the Cunning One, and it could be considered a move to maintain peace with the Stardust Family whilst the Thunderstorm family had the Hurricane family to worry about. One should not have too many enemies. Hank Stardust was way older than Olivia, a man in his forties, but a faithful lord and steadfast man, who many believed would restore prosperity and power to Neptune and the moons of Jupiter. In the past few years, the Thunderstorm family had governance over the four Galileo moons of Jupiter, namely Io, Europa, Calisto and Ganymede. However recently, the Hurricane family had been launching various affrays upon Calisto and Ganymede, and lands were taken and many Thunderstorm branches and men and troops were hewn. Io and Europa still held fast, for they were closest to Jupiter which was ruled by the Riffles family who were also among the first explorers of the Solar System. However the Riffles seemed to be content with the integration of their own realm and cared little about its moons, and thus didn’t choose sides. In conclusion, there was ever present a certain tension around the Mighty and its moons.
「Jimmy, that was really good!」 Susan said as Jim returned from his clarinet solo during the empress’s coronation.
「Thanks. That was Moon-Night in Hermvalar, composed by Vanilla Jones, an earth musician who lived backto the 28th century. It comes in clarinet solo, clarinet quartet, and even orchestra.」
「Your performance was the most brilliant one so far.」
「Come on, it wasn’t; you just said that because you’re my girlfriend. Wait till you see Oscar Thunderstorm sing. I hear he’s the best singer in all the Eight.」
「You were right; he was charming; but I still withhold my opinion.」 Said Susan as Oscar Thunderstorm, the 「Nightingale」 finished his song and everyone was applauding madly, some of them even standing up to manifest their appreciation.
「Tickets to his concerts are very hard to come by; I hear their prices can rocket to as much as 700 Points.」 Said Jim, 「So we’re very lucky tonight.」
「Tell me, Jimmy, what do you think of a trip to the Black Spot?」
「When?」 he sounded appalled.
「Tomorrow. The duchess told me there was going to be an expedition team to the Spot and asked me if I cared to join, so I said yes.」
「Of course I』d love to go. But why wasn’t I informed of this?」
「Maybe because I’m her relative and you’re not. The Thunderstorm can be fairly conservative, you know.」
As they spoke came the finale of the empress’s coronation, and a silver crown was placed onto her blonde head by Emerald Thunderstorm, her mother. She was still vigorous in health, save a little awkwardness in her movements, and her hands shook as she held the silver crown of Neptune.
「All hail to Olivia, empress and rightful governor of the realm of Neptune, the planet of the unfathomable, the peril, and myth!」
「Hail to the empress!」
Succeeding the coronation was, according to tradition, a dance, and to Jim’s surprise the empress herself asked him to dance with her, and he accepted the invitation with reverence. Susan, on the other hand, found herself in the arms of the charming artist, Oscar Thunderstorm, also Olivia’s little brother, so it was an unforgettable night for them both as they moved their foot to the soothing rhythm of Mother Neptune as the indigo gleam of methane poured into their chamber and the silhouettes of both the host and the guests melted upon the blue satin curtains.
(To be continued...)