They traveled to the AIs’ home system, where Droth was still sleeping. John gazed at the massive dragon. Did Droth spend most of her time sleeping? He had seen her awake only one out of three times. They spent three days in this star system. None of them slept for fear that Inashta would find them. John especially. He knew there was still a link between him and the goddess. Being immortals, they could all stay awake for a few months at a time.

“I’ve finalized the plan,” Atrata said, calling everyone together.

John felt proud of this granddaughter of his. She was smart, beautiful and strong. She always spoke to the point, and didn’t let her emotions show. She was a capable leader.

“We will enter Adan stealthily,” said Atrata.

“Wait,” John said. “Her capital is on Adan? Why did she build it there?” Adan had been the place where the war between the elves and the human empires had originated.

“It is in the perfect location for her elf hunt,” snarled Beliar.

“It is also close enough to the other empires to threaten them,” said Atrata. “The Laws on that planet are strange, and I think that she is studying them.”

“You have been there before?” John asked.

“We have agents on Adan and even infiltrated her palace once, but never got an opportunity to attack her.”

“You’re lucky. What you did sounds like suicide. If she has weakened the Laws she will be able to sense us across most of the galaxy. How can we hide from her? How did you hide from her then?”

“This place’s Laws are still intact,” Sevens said through the ship’s speakers. “She won’t find us here.”

John considered for a moment. Inashta was far more powerful than he had imagined, but he had grown stronger too. He had not been idle in his prison of Darkness. He knew he had a tendency to be overconfident, but this time he was sure that he could take her on.

“We hid from Inashta very easily,” said Atrata. “We created a distraction. Inashta cannot concentrate on too many things at once. My plan is for the AIs to be that distraction this time. They will attack Inashta’s fleets. They have an overwhelming advantage. They cannot be affected emotionally by demons and they have no life force for the Abyssal Legions to drain.”

“Our ships can still be destroyed by their conventional weapons,” said Sevens. “But I think we’ll make a good distraction. What is destroyed can be rebuilt. With our precise maneuvers and overwhelming fire power our enemies will not stand a chance.”

“You don’t have to fight them seriously,” said Astrata. “Just enough to keep Inashta’s eyes on you.”

There was a problem with this plan, and it was a big one. “What if Inashta acts against the AIs herself?” John asked.

“She won’t. She thinks her Abyssal Legions are invincible. It would affect her pride to act personally. Which is why the AIs shouldn’t go overboard in their attack.”

“Understood,” said Sevens.

“What happens next?” asked John.

“We will let our ship drift twenty thousand miles away from Adan, and fly on ourselves from there. That way we can go in undetected. We will then infiltrate the palace. We have the uniforms of her palace’s servants. She has so many servants that we will pass unnoticed. We will take our positions in the palace quadrangle. We have a route to the quadrangle that will avoid most of the palace guards, in case they grow suspicious. We will set up our big guns there, concealing them as best as we can. Our agents in the palace will help us. Grandfather will go to the throne room, where she will most likely be, and lure her out to us.”

“Show me the plan of her palace,” said John.

A blueprint appeared on Atrata’s display unit wrapped around her wrist. Sevens transferred the image to the holographic display. John studied it. There were many ways into the throne room.

“I can give you time to get into position and set up,” said John.

“We’ll just need ten minutes, grandfather.”

“No rush. I’ll then barge my way in through the front gate. I’ll kill all the guards and blast my way to the throne room. I’ll then lure her to the quadrangle.”

“Where’s the need for stealth when we have him?” Beliar laughed harshly. “The plan requires you to stealthily enter the throne room so that we don’t get overwhelmed by her guardsmen.”

“You won’t get overwhelmed since they will all be dead,” John said simply. This Beliar was getting on his nerves.

“Grandfather, it would be best if you entered as covertly as possible. We have a disguise for you to wear. You will look just like any other noble entering her court on a petition.”

“Show me the picture of a prominent noble who is not likely to be on Adan at the time.”

Atrata thought for a few moments and then fiddled with her wrist unit. John had never realized how convenient his chip was before this.

A man appeared on the holographic display. John looked at the display carefully and then transformed his appearance to match the image. The crowd of fifty immortals gasped collectively.

“So, such a thing is possible,” said Atrata. “This will make things much easier.”

“Let’s hope there’s nobody there who can recognize his voice,” said Beliar.

This Beliar was such a downer, but he made a valid point. John would have to fake having a cold.

“Do people catch colds nowadays?” John asked. He had been inoculated against all known strains of viruses in the galaxy on the Swift Retribution. The medical technology of this era may have deteriorated. They didn’t have chips after all.

“We do get colds,” said Atrata. “There are various viruses and diseases from the past that have made a resurgence.”

“That’s good,” said John. “Umm...I mean bad. But good for the plan.”

Two days later they set off for Adan. They reached the planet in a week. They abandoned the elven ship in space and flew to Adan. One standard day later, they landed in an isolated area outside the city, undetected by any of the planet’s sensors. The fifty immortals dispersed into the city to collect the parts of rail guns that they would assemble in the quadrangle. There were secret agents throughout the city, keeping the various parts and the aura-draining diluvian ammunition for them. This operation had been long in the making.

John and Atrata wandered outside the palace, while waiting for everyone to gather at the rally point.

“So,” said John. “You must have lived a very hard life. How do you manage to keep your spirits up despite everything?”

“I concentrate on the mission,” said Atrata. “It makes me happy knowing that I’m fighting the good fight. It is my life’s purpose and I’m doing my best to accomplish it.”

“What about after Inashta’s dead?”

Atrata looked bewildered, “I’ve never really thought of that. It always seemed like such a distant day. If we pull this off today...”

“We will,” said John.

“Then I don’t know what will happen next. Maybe I’ll go back to Oor. What about you?”

“I’ll go search for my home world Earth.”

“You mean the wilderness planet? What will you do there?”

“Not that planet. I want to go to the planet of my previous incarnation. It had a human population of eight billion when I died there.”

“Incarnation? You mean we’re born again after we die?”

“It happened to me. I don’t know if it happens to everyone. Maybe it was just some mistake.”

“There are no mistakes in the Universe,” said Atrata. “Your planet would have changed in the last two thousand years.”

“It will probably be unrecognizable to me now,” John sighed. This had been worrying John ever since he was freed. “Still, I want to go back there. It was my dream, before I got imprisoned by Ir. I want to see what became of it.”

“Maybe I’ll come with you,” said Atrata.

“You are welcome.”

Two thousand years! Would humanity have survived on Earth or would they have destroyed themselves? Albert Einstein had said that the Fourth World War would be fought with sticks and stones. Would he find a primitive people when he went back, worshiping old technologies as though they were gifts from the gods? Would he go back to find a utopia, where everything was peaceful and prosperous? Would all the nations have ceased their games of power and come together to herald a new golden age? These questions plagued John as he sat outside the palace with Atrata. He had to find out. Earth had always been his goal. Nothing had changed. Killing Inashta was just tying up loose ends.