Zein: The Homecoming by Graham J. Wood Read Free Book Online Page B

to their homeland. The whole process left grumbling on both sides.
    He smiled at the elaborate title of the expeditionary force. The title was grand, the Earthlings liked their organisations; The United League of Planets, consisting of the populated Earth, Zein, Oneerio, Skegus and five other inhabited planets in the Zein galaxy, was the title given to a vision. The vision objective was not just to free worlds but to free the Capulus Novus Sector from tyranny.
    Kabel remembered the bold speech he had given at his inauguration and as he did, he couldn’t prevent his smile growing wider. He never knew he could speak like that. At the United Nations in Washington, everyone stood to applaud; he was initially shocked, but then proud when he caught his adoptive mother, Maggia, in the crowd, cheering him on. He ached to see Delilah and missed his late adopted brother Drogan. Even though he had lived with Drogan all his life, after being rescued as a baby from the Southern Quadrant of the Earth Colony, his relationship with him had been distant until, in those final weeks before the quadrant was invaded, they had grown close. Real brothers.
    The loss of Drogan tugged at his emotions and he had initially looked to Tyson to replace him. But Tyson was distant, almost cold or indifferent to Kabel, and even though he knew the magics Tyson had inherited were impacting his half-blood brother, the rejection still hurt.
    For company, on the first phase of the journey, he had Zebulon, the Changeling, who kept to his wolf shape nearly all the time, in an attempt not to freak out any of the ship’s crew. Kabel found his presence and insight comforting and he reflected on how far their relationshiphad progressed since he had rescued the enslaved creature at the Federation Fair in the Western Quadrant. Kabel sighed, that seemed so long ago, before all this madness started. They had fought many pitched battles and hopeless situations together. The ability for this creature from Zein to change its shape into any animal it had seen proved extremely useful and had pulled the group from some pretty tough scrapes. Zebulon had wondered off to meet up with the other companions and Kabel found that he missed the creature’s reassuring company.
    ‘Chancellor Lord Blackstone, General Corder wants to speak with you,’ said Lieutenant Anton Morrison, jolting him from his thoughts. It still took him by surprise to be called “Lord” let alone “Chancellor”. Once the clans had come together in peace it had been unanimous that the next Chancellor would be him. He had rebuffed the initial attempt saying that it should be Lord Fathom or Lord Southgate but they wouldn’t have it. He was the Chancellor. The Blackstone clan were the principal clan by Zein Law and nothing he could say or do could change their minds.
    He had surprised them immediately by, for the first time in history, appointing a non-royal as his Vice-Chancellor. It was Cronje. Everyone had been taken back, including Cronje, until his initial surprise was replaced by his pragmatic old self.
    It was a smart move, Cronje had the backing of the still powerful Malacca army and by tying him into the Inner Council, Kabel had strengthened his political base by just one appointment. Though, to be honest, Kabel enjoyed the matter-of-fact advice he received from the taciturn Easterner. He had left Cronje with Remo as his captain to support Lords Southgate and Fathom as they assimilated the two cultures and environments. Kabel felt uneasy nothaving this pair with him but he needed to provide much needed protection and experience to the vulnerable Zein population, shorn of their technological protections.
    Kabel walked behind the muscled back of Lieutenant Morrison into the Command and Control Centre. He had rarely seen a black man and the imposing statue-like bear of a man brought out the strong, almost regal bearing of the African-American race. Lieutenant Morrison was General Corder’s right hand