Free Battle for Earth by Keith Mansfield

to the far side of the lake wins,” said Bram, a clear twinkle in his eyes. “On three.”
    â€œAre you sure?” asked Johnny. “I know you’ve just been in the fountain, but I don’t want to tire you out.”
    â€œOne …” said Bram, adding, “Scared you might lose?”
    Johnny had briefly considered letting the old Emperor beat him, but not if Bram was going to say things like that.
    â€œTwo …” The Emperor set himself in the pose of a runner about to spring into action. Johnny did the same. “Three.”
    Johnny sprinted. He was out of the crystal grotto in a shot and soon reached the boundary of the lake. Looking over his shoulder he saw Bram smiling, still frozen in his runner’s stance, but now surrounded by swirling Owlessan Monks. Johnny began to slow.
    â€œYou’ll need to run much faster than that,” shouted theEmperor. There looked to be a broad smile etched across the lined face. With Monks holding him on either side, Bram was lifted into the air.
    Johnny picked up the pace—he was halfway there now. Another glance over his shoulder told him that Bram, although now hovering at the center of a long line of Monks, was still above the original shore.
    â€œFaster,” cried the Emperor.
    Johnny wondered if this was some sort of test of his fitness. He sped up even more. Scarlet cloaks with near-invisible inhabitants began unfolding in front, either side of Johnny’s intended destination. As he neared the finish, Bram himself appeared out of thin air, unfolding in the very center of the line of Monks.
    Johnny slowed and came to a halt in front of the Emperor. “That’s … cheating,” he said, gasping for air.
    â€œGuilty as charged,” Bram replied, rubbing his arms as if to warm himself up. “You needed to see for yourself what these creatures can do.” The Monks were rising upward, circling in the air above them. Taking a firm stride forward, the Emperor continued, “I suggest we walk back.” Johnny nodded and fell in beside him. “I also wanted to remind you that the fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, just as the most powerful fleet needn’t win a space battle. Trust me—I would have liked to race you properly—but my time is drawing near. Even the fountain struggles to sustain me now.”
    Johnny made to contradict him, but Bram raised his hand and continued speaking. “I will not be sad when I go beyond—death is not the end. I hope in the time I have left to still be of some use to the galaxy. I had thought that in the halls of Lysentia, the last paradise of the first ones, I might learn the secrets of the Nameless One—how to defeat him—but I have failed in my quest to locate it. I see now it wasarrogant to believe I would ever find it, let alone be granted entry.”
    As they neared the edge of the lake the Emperor bent and scooped some of the liquid chronons into his hands. They carried on to rejoin Clara, sitting beside her in the crystal grotto. “As I was saying,” the Emperor went on, “I needed a new strategy—another way to win this war. With General Nymac dead, the galaxy has been cleansed of the Andromedan invaders. The Nameless One who sent them is weakened and hurting. I know that he intends to come here—to bring the fight again to our door. He must already have left his throne in our sister galaxy, but I will not let him reach here. Now, while he licks his wounds as he travels, is the time to strike.” Bram threw one handful of chronons into the air. The particles of liquid time began to rotate, forming a beautiful swirling spiral in the clear sky above—the galaxy in miniature. As he gazed upward, smiling at the glittering whirlpool, strands of silvery light from his own hair linked with the gold of the galaxy he ruled. “Inside the
Calida Lucia
you have seen my armada, a great fleet that will