Page 18 of Horde King’s Claim

Guilty as charged, I bit the corner of my lip and my eyes went over to the empty spot where I had snatched the map down just before squeezing myself out through the window.

“I…ah…I’ve never seen anything like it. I just wanted to look at it,” I mumbled.

He squinted.

“Was that really a map of Earth?” I asked.

He nodded. “Whenever I go to a new planet or a new settlement, I have them drawn up for me. They’re not always accurate, but it’s enough to remember where certain landmarks are just in case we return.”

“You’ve been to Earth?”

He nodded.

I leaned forward. “I…I’ve heard about it. Were there millions of humans there like me? What did you see there?”

“Devastation.”

My heart skipped a beat and I exhaled. “It’s been decades since the disaster. Surely the planet has recovered by now.”

“Not all of the planet has. I went five years ago, and I saw nothing but toppled rusted buildings, the shell of old steel mobiles, and the remnants of what once was. There were humans, I think they were still humanoid, at least…but they didn’t want us there. The groups we encountered were going through a civil war themselves, killing each other over territory and food, and at the same time, isolating themselves from carriers of the viruses that created the disaster in the first place.”

“Do you think humans might be able to return to Earth one day after Mother Nature has run its course?”

“I suspect humans will when things stabilize,” he said. “There are a couple of mirrors planets resembling an Earth much like the one you’ve read about before things fell. The treaty that was signed with Oderas ages ago called for the safe passage and refuge of five thousand humans on Xalxa 5 until things got better. You are a product of that treaty. And your children will be too. Your grandchildren, as well. It will take a long while, but your future generation may find that Earth is stable enough for them to return. According to our experts, that time, unfortunately, isn’t now.”

“I’ve heard there were other places like Earth, but those are galaxies away, aren’t they? Do you have maps of those places?”

He frowned. “I don’t. Unfortunately, I’ve never been. One of the planets is easy to find, but we’ve never been able to infiltrate it. Their defenses are locked tight. The other planet is almost invisible. We know it’s there since our scientists have made contact, but the coordinates are not yet known. The planet is hidden for good reason, I suspect.”

“You and your horde would raid there if you knew where they were, wouldn’t you?”

He glanced at me sheepishly. “It’s what I do.” He pulled the folded map from a sack hooked to his belt. “Keep it.”

I took the map and suddenly felt bad for snatching it off the wall in the first place. “Thank you.”

He nodded once and left the hut. I heard many voices on the other side of the door. It was so easy to forget that he was a king. He didn’t have time for my questions, yet, he’d probably seen more of the world than anybody else I’d met. He’d been to planet Earth, the one place I’d give anything to visit. He’d confirmed what others suspected. Earth still wasn’t ready for humans to return to. But until then, Dretis was my home. It wasn’t a human-led settlement anymore, but it was still my home.