Seven Planets. Massimo Longo E Maria Grazia Gullo

telling the truth, but apparently he did not think that you were trustworthy enough to know all the details. He also knew all the secrets that you are talking about." Ruegra was stunned. His father had often mentioned that mystery, but he never had the urge to dig into it.

      "What is wrong, General? Are you wondering why he had never told you more about it?"

      "Maybe my young age and my impulsivity made me a bad listener."

      "I would rather say that your features are passion for power and conquest."

      "Power is necessary to maintain the order and the stability." underlined the General, after he had stood up irritated.

      "You have faith in the order, employed at the service of a single person and in the stability of a single tribe." replied Wof.

      Ruegra began walking nervously. He had already lost his patience, but he knew well enough that no torture or extortion were going to work on the man who was sitting in front of him. His only hope was gaining the man's trust.

      He played his last card and lied:

      "You know, I truly respected my father. When I was a kid you used to say that I looked just like him... At that time, I saw you like a master...."

      "What makes you think that I will reveal how to find the parchment? That pureness you had as a child disappeared quickly, Ruegra, and the will to prove yourself was taken over by the thirst of power."

      "I am not the Anic that you remember during the war. I would know how to manage power equally. My father did a mistake by not telling me everything." the General burst out in anger.

      "If you had to come to me, that means you were not worthy of your father's trust. What kind a father hides knowledge from his son? There is such misery in that gesture of his. Who better than him knew you and who am I to reveal everything to you and completely ignore his evaluation? As you can see I cannot do anything but respecting his will by honouring his memory." stated Wof. Then he got up and said goodbye to his hangman.

      That scene could not leave the General's mind, who kept staring into space with a glass still in his hand in that Bonobo warm night.

      The following morning, Ruegra personally examined the work that had been completed to substitute the broken area of the spaceship.

      Mastigo had perfectly followed-up and his mechanics had delivered an excellent job, as per usual. They took off at the appointed time and sailed back home.

      The days were passing by and Ruegra was in a hurry to go back home. He was scared of plots, even though his brother, who had taken the lead in his absence, would provide the General with regular reports on the situation. There was nothing to worry about. Carimea was a mixture of races. Different tribes were fighting against the Anics for command, but the latter had eliminated a conspicuous number of opposers during their long domination. It had been founded by several groups of the different solar systems, the majority of them were adventurers, fortune seekers or former prisoners that were looking for a land where to have a fresh start. Only a small section among them came from the planet. In fact, the local populations had been barbarically subjugated and isolated.

      On the way back, whilst he was sitting on the command chair in the dashboard, Ruegra was thinking of Wof's words. That "My father knew" kept resounding in his mind.

      Then all of a sudden, he thought of all the times his father would leave during hunting season and before all the wars. His favourite destination was indeed the Bonobian land, especially the Sea of Silence.

      While those thoughts were navigating his mind, he had an epiphany and thought:" How have I not thought about this before?" Something or someone there might have given him more information on the parchment.

      He linked his intuition to Mastigo's report on the commercial spaceship. Maybe someone was ahead of him.

      He ordered to immediately change route. They were going back to Bonobo.

      Mastigo, who was surprised at seeing them come back, ran towards the ship.

      "I salute the most invincible amongst the Carimeanis. General, why this sudden return?"

      "I have reflected upon the landing of that spaceship, which convinced me to come back and personally deal with the situation."

      "Once again you chose wisely. My informers did not come back to Bonobo. Hence, I decided to visit the land in person. I found out that they had been eliminated by the strangers."

      Ruegra was hoping that his Governor had not destroyed all the possibilities of gaining information as he knew his ways.

      "Nothing is left there." reported Mastigo straight away, who looked as satisfied as a said child that has tortured his little preys.

      Ruegra constrained himself from attacking his speaker and asked him where the crew had gone to.

      Mastigo took a deep breath, knowing that it was not going to be good news.

      "We could not find it. They must have fled."

      "Not only did you destroy all the evidence, but you also let the crew flee! You were such an incompetent! Lead me there!"

      Then, on a second thought he realised that it would not have been a good idea to let Mastigo know about his plans.

      "Set a crew for me. I'll leave without you."

      Second Chapter

      A stone sword was hanging over their heads

      "Shall we get ready? We might not be welcomed upon our arrival!" exclaimed Oalif, the wittiest of the group.

      The crew was formed of four members of the planets that were fighting against Carimea's rule. They had been chosen because of their personal history as well as their physical and mental abilities. Together they would form a team that was able to go on any mission, both physically and strategically. Their duty was guaranteeing peace and it did not just imply military actions, but also intelligence-linked activities and coordination among the different populations.

      The Council of the Four Planets Coalition had appointed them "Tetramirs", which meant that they could benefit by the Government from special authorities and jobs until the completion of their mission.

      The small commercial spaceship was crossing Bonobo's big, grey rings and was proceeding towards the Sea of Silence.

      That sort of spaceship was designed for the transport of goods. They were shaped like a parallelepiped with blunted edges on the front in order to provide aerodynamic movement. On top of that, they had placed small, releasable wings that were used when crossing the atmosphere. At the rear, there was a big hold door that would open in three sections like the crown of a flower and was used during loading and unloading. These spaceships were slow and bulky. They would take off and land in parallel with the ground without any room for manoeuvre, just like all the other spaceships.

      "Declare yourself." a metallic voice came from the radio.

      "We're merchants, sir." replied Oalif.

      "We can see it. But who and what is on board? Do you have a license?"

      "Settimo from Oria, sir."

      "License number, now!" insisted on the guard.

      "34876."

      "You are not in our list. Change route immediately. You do not have any permission to land in this area."

      "The signal is weak, sir. I cannot hear you. License number 34876." said Oalif for a second time, pretending not to hear what the guard was saying.

       "Permission to land denied!"

      "We can't copy you, sir." insisted the Bonobian and then he addressed his crew members saying:" We're in, folks! We're crossing the fog in the Sea of Silence!"

      Oalif was an experienced pilot, and being a Bonobian, he was a world-class connoisseur of his native planet. However, he did not fit in with the simple and mild traits that were usually to ascribed that ethnicity. His tribe had