Things Left Undone Book 2, Chapter 7
Karter's Story
By CuteLucca
"I was born eighty-five million years ago in your terms. Among my own people, I would be your equivalent of a twenty-seven year old. I was a son of the Emperor. By all rights, I had no chance of ever gaining the throne, being the youngest of thirty-five children. All thirty-four of my siblings would have to die.
"My luck became better, though, for a short while. The plague that ripped through my world of Karandash killed my father, and all but three of his sons. I was one of the survivors. My eldest brother, Sahtour, ascended the throne, but died, tragically, in a boating accident.
"No-one knew that I had put the hole in the bottom of his yacht. I rigged it to open three hours from his departure."
Karter laughed, and stretched out in the chair. "My, but this is a comfortable chair! Anyway, *I* killed the Emperor. That meant that only one of my brothers was left. Martha. He was quite a talented warrior, and he absolutely adored hunting. So one day, I invited the new Emperor for a hunting trip. We gathered our weapons, and traveled out to the Pother mountains. That was where my passion for hunting and collecting specimens was nurtured. It grew into a burning desire of mine.
"But even though I was having a great time hunting with my brother Martha, I could not forget the sole reason for my inviting him to the desolate and uninhabited Pother mountains."
Karter glanced at his audience. They were trembling. "Are you enjoying my story?" They nodded their heads violently, and kept their eyes riveted to the alien seated before them.
"The reason I brought my brother to the Pothers was to kill him. I cooked dinner that night, and poisoned his food with the slime of the poisonfish. It was a painless death, the poison didn't kick in until he was asleep. And his body was left normal-looking, so I preserved him. He was my first sentinent being. After that one, I only wanted intelligent creatures that could fight back. Unfortunately, there weren't any other intelligent beings on my planet.
"I returned to the palace to attend my coronation. I carried the jar containing Martha on my back, and my people cowered in fear.
"I was Emperor for three of your years. But the people didn't like me. My collection was continuously growing, with the aid of the spaceship I forced my wise men to build for me. When I finally conquered Lavos' world, and brought him home with me, I was overthrown when an organized revolt protested my collecting. This made me angry.
"My son was made Emperor, and he ruled in peace for many long years. I was exiled with my collection to the moon of Herad, orbiting Karandash. You see, my people were peace-loving. No wars, no desire to conquer, no bloodlust. It sickened me. So I decided to destroy my planet. I landed from Herad, and Lavos aided me. My people had no weapons to fight back, so it was extremely easy to kill them all. I am one of the last living Karandians. The others live in the wasteland which is Karandash, as hermits or members of demon worshipping cults. My son, of course, died a slow, painful death at my hands..."
Karter sat up straight and continued. "But I thoroughly enjoyed destroying my planet. I wandered the galaxy, preserving sentinent beings, and then turning their planets into wasteland. You people and your tiny planet are next on my list, but I admit you put up a good fight. It makes it much more fun."
He stood up, and bowed to them. "I am giving you a chance to stop my invasion by leaving you alive. I will leave you now, so you can start to prepare. Good luck. You're going to need it!" Karter disappeared in the same destructive flash, and left Magus, Flea, Lucca, and the remains of Robo sitting alone in the darkness.
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