Beyond the Empyreal Stars

19.

19.

Odette had to listen to Padric's account of the loss of Earth again with more detail and images. She tried her best not to look, but couldn't stop. Though it had been three more days since Odette woke up from sedation, it still felt to her like it had only been hours. She kept to her room, never leaving, and no one bothered her. Padric, Nova, and Bas, of course, had come to check on her. Even Diana did twice a day. She wouldn't speak with her on the topic of Earth's destruction, though, only about her health since she'd barely eaten or slept.

In the Gallery, a round, glass conference table had been brought in. Seated around it were the Primes, Queen Elektra, King Marinus, Emperor Mehrab, Padric, and Odette. All were solemn as they listened and viewed what happened and still happening on Earth. Padric explained the Whispian strategy while the holographic images hung in the air above them, along with a three-dimensional Earth with red all over it, indicating the a complete loss of human life.

Even worse, the leaders of every country were pictured then, and not just the ones who had been there for the meeting in D.C. The ones in red indicated they were killed, a few others in blue for injured, and even fewer in green, meaning they were still alive. Odette focused on President Calvin Mitchell's face in red, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat.

"The Alliance might have pulled its forces back, and so did Comae, but there are still plenty of Whispians on Earth," Diana said then, making Odette break her focus on the hologram. "The Terrian traitor Pallas is still on the planet, though his whereabouts have been kept sealed. Just like before, he has been able to keep out of our tracking system, but one slip up and we will have him. We have confirmed the death of his human cohort, Abe Knorr, in the attack on D.C. As you can see, most of the human population has been wiped out, though we know of a few groups of survivors that number in the hundreds."

"Would you have not thought to watch out for your exiles?" King Marinus questioned, raising one silver brow. "Who is to say the others will not go to Earth in aid of the Whispians?"

Padric was the one to speak up and answer. "We have tracked the exiled Terrians and they are nowhere near Earth's solar system. Do not think that, even though they have done wrong once, they would do something this heinous..."

"Do you think yourself a little biased?" Queen Elektra asked. "One exile is your kin, is he not?"

Padric's hands balled into fists on the glass table. "If you think I am in any contact or working with my brother when I am the one who had to banish him..."

"Stop," Diana commanded, giving him an icy glance. She turned her thawing gaze upon the queen then. "Commander Padric has been on Earth for the last year. He has only had communication with us and our Paragon and Guardians who were with him. However..." She shifted in her seat and Odette noticed her glance her way. "In catching Pallas and any other Whispian forces, we have two options – we send our forces once more in search of them since there are far fewer or..." Another glance. This time, her jaw was clenched tightly. "Or we sanitize the planet of all life."

Sanitize.

Odette had heard rumors of what that would mean for a planet. There had been talks before, long ago, when another planet had been found named Creto. Much like the humans, the Cretians were destroying their planet and using its resources exponentially without much regard to the ecosystem. Sanitation of Creto wasn't necessary after a year of Alliance talks, though, because the planet itself had turned on its people. The core became unsteady and the atmosphere toxic. Before long, Creto had been so unstable that it went supernova, destroying the three other planets in its solar system along with it.