Jago: The Millennium Galaxy Race

Chapter 13: King

Part 3: Millennium Galaxy Race

As the week ended, everyone on Crux was preparing for the Millennium Galaxy Race. The planet grew crowded as various species from all over the universe gathered here. Good thing it was a huge planet: at least twice the size of Sola according to Tammy—and Sola was no small planet.

The race only happened once every thousand years, so yeah, it was a big deal. Everyone was talking about it. I was mildly surprised we weren't going to participate. The Jago crew did seem to live for adventure, but the only one who seemed interested was Rei. She was thrilled about it, reading as much race-related gossip as she could.

The other crewmembers, however, had little to no interest in it.

"No need to be flashy," Cashel said.

"Not worth the risk," Tammy said.

And Kiko said nothing because she still wasn't around.

Then, out of nowhere, we were summoned to the Inner City the day before the Millennium Galaxy Race was scheduled to begin. The only good thing about this trip was that the entire Jago crew was summoned, so Kiko was obligated to come along. I hadn't seen her in days, but she still had no problem pretending I didn't exist. I didn't mind too much; it was just nice to finally see her again.

"What's in the Inner City?" I asked Tammy in the shuttle on the way there.

"The Crux Council and the King of the entire Vo Galaxy."

"Well, surely we're not going there for them, so why are we being summoned?"

She responded with a blank stare.

"You mean ... they did summon us?"

"No."

Another Tammy joke. I relaxed.

"Only the King summoned us."

I laughed, but no one else did.

#

The Inner City was beautiful, majestic, and ... empty. It was strange coming out of the shuttle and not being pushed and shoved as you tried to get to your destination. Only certain higher ranking people—and, somehow, us—were allowed in this area.

We walked through a garden of strange plants that gave off a sweet, soothing fragrance and entered an enormous white marble building. I kept thinking we were going to stop soon, but we were ushered deeper and higher into the mansion until finally reaching a large circular office. The walls were lined with a multitude of stored data chips, and a single desk overlooked the city through a window below. There was only one other pathway besides the one we came through, a red-carpet that led to another part of the building. We stood there, waiting, not knowing what to do.

We didn't have to wait long, however.

A male voice echoed from across the room, where the red-carpet entered the room. "Welcome."

A normal-looking human man, about the same age as Cashel and wearing simple but elegant robes, appeared from the red-carpet doorway. Unlike Cashel, he had hair, which was short and snow white. I seemed to be the only one caught by surprise. Everyone lowered their heads, and I followed suit. It was not every day you met a thousand-year-old man who ruled the entire galaxy.

He walked up to us. "There's no need for that."

His gaze landed on our captain. "It's been a long time, Cashel."

I wondered why the king personally knew a bounty hunter, even if he was Class 1.

"Not too long," Cashel retorted.