Unshrinking Home

'Hold this. Push when I signal you,' said Menna to her little sister Avni. 

'Take this spec. It will help you see the spikes at the top of the wall. Careful,' cautioned Avni.

'Don't worry. Our ten years of training will help us,' assured Menna.

Menna tightened the rope around her waist and started climbing up. She was using a vacuum climber that could stick to any surface. It made her vertical climb easy. She extended the rope to her little sister & gave a thumbs-up sign to her. 

'Are you sure about this?'

'Just push the button.'

'Okay, okay.'

The motor placed at the top of the wall, placed by Menna, did its job by pulling Avni to the top. She was light & that made it easy on the motor. 

'Did you see the spikes?'

'Yes, Avni. And stick to minimum communication, as we discussed. Hold this spec.'

Menna removed the specs with a laser cutter to make some way. They jumped from the top of the 25-foot perimeter wall. The soft soil made their landing easy. The guards in the watchtower did not see the perimeter breach. They were busy wrapping up their belongings for a shift change. 

Just 500 meters away from that wall was the busiest market of the universe. Everything necessary and of the luxuries was available at this place. It was on a planet called Kalta. Kalta was the center of the universe, where one man decided the fate of the entire universe. 

'Hurry up.'

'You want me to fly and attract their attention.'

'Don't act over smart. Just pick up the pace till we mingle with the market's crowd,' clarified Menna.

'Wait,' a voice came from the back. The sisters stopped and looked back. A guard was running towards them.

'Run. Menna. Run,' whispered Avni.

'No. Stay here and be ready with the ID,' said Menna.

'Show me your hands,' shouted that guard.

'Just looking for the ID.'

'Raise your hands. What are you doing here?' asked that guard.

Menna turned towards Avni and slapped her. As planned, Avni began to cry with the highest decibel of noise that a human can generate. 

'Told you not to wander around. What should I do now? Tell me,' Menna was still scolding Avni.

The heart overpowered the mind of the guard. He said,'Give me your ID and stop hitting that poor child.'

The guard verified the false ID and let them go.

The sisters hurried and mingled in the market.

'Next time, don't hit me like that.'

'Next time, don't cry up like that.'

They both smiled. 

'Ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. We are about to begin the auction,' announced the auctioneer from the center stage.

Menna looked at the watch and said,'Avni, get ready. As soon as the auction of our planet starts, send me a signal.'

'Okay, big sis.'

'Hey! stick to protocols, soldier.'

'As you say, commander.'

Menna hurried towards the rear part of the auction stage. They were about to pull the heist that would change their life forever. 

'Please stand up. King Khalia is about to grace us with his presence.'

King Khalia, a towering figure of 9.4 feet. A giant amongst humans. King Khalia was equipped with armies and ammunition to wreak havoc on any planet of his choice. 

'The Saviour of Humanity will begin the auction by shotting a star,' said the auctioneer. King Khalia pressed a button to blow up the entire star into pieces. The audience cheered destruction. 

'The first Planet is Kurhon. It was dying due to the species that lived on this planet. King Khalia saved it by destroying its entire population. After a century of recovery, this planet is now inhabitable. The Kurhon has a lot of minerals and oxygen. The bidding starts with 30 tons of Gold Bars,' announced the auctioneer.

The shine of the gold was still attracting humankind. Humanity was interested in doing transactions with gold, even after several centuries. Greed still lived & it thrived inside the heart of King Khalia. That was the reason he annihilated the planet Zorta, the planet that was home to Avni and Menna. 

Ten years ago, King Khalia conquered the Planet Zorta and annihilated half of its population. The remaining half was imprisoned and placed in an unhabitable climate of an unknown planet to survive. Menna and Avni hatched the plan of this heist on that planet. 

King Khalia conquered the universe like this: he would attack the planet of his choice and would destroy half of its population. Then he would take half of them to another uninhabitable planet to make it habitable eventually. After evacuating all, King Khalia will shrink that planet to the size of a tennis ball. Then he will auction that tennis ball-sized planet to the highest bidder. The purchaser can extract or rebuild or whatever they wish to do to that planet after King Khalia would transfer that tennis ball-sized plant to the original size. The plus point would be the protection that he will get from King Khalia. No one would attack that planet for 100 centuries. Till then, that planet was free on their own. After that, ownership will be transferred to King Khalia and then again to the highest bidder. This way, he ran the business of the universe. Immortality via science was helpful for Khalia. That helped him rule the universe for centuries. It gave him a loyal army and lethal ammunition to conquer any planet of his choice. 

'Menna, our planet is on the table.'

'Okay.'

After a few seconds, a flash of light accompanied by a loud sound blinded the audience along with the king Khalia. Meena took a flash-bang from one of the soldiers and threw it towards the audience. That caused chaos. Avni swiftly replaced the original planet with a duplicate copy. 

The sensory organ of all returned to its original function. The auctioneer inquired, and that soldier explained the reason.

'A flash-bang fell out of my side belt.' that soldier said.

A gentle squeeze on the trigger by King Khalia and that soldier turned into ashes. The soldier failed to explain, and King Khalia was not so keen on forgiving anyone for their mistakes. 

The auction resumed, but no one dared to buy that planet. King Khalia annihilated it recently, and thus, a decade of healing was not fruitful.  

'Meet me at the exit gate.' 

'No, there are guards. Initiate Plan Gamma,' ordered Menna.

'Okay, commander.'

They managed to sneak into a spaceship of King Khalia, which was about to travel light-years away in search of new planets. To conquer and annihilate the planets and ultimately to save them. In a matter of minutes, they were many light years away from King Khalia.

Now the time to initiate phase two of Plan Gamma. 

'Ready, soldier.'

'Yes, commander.'

Avni mixed some sedatives into the oxygen supply of the spaceship. All but the sisters were fast asleep. The ship was on auto-pilot, and that negated the need for a pilot. 

Menna placed them all in escape pods and set the course to the planet Kalta of King Khalia. The journey will take time, time enough to complete phase two of Plan Gamma.  

They traveled to the predestined Mega Star around which the planet Zorta would revolve. Menna was ready for a spacewalk with the shrunk Planet Zorta. 

'Avni, shoot the planet with that beam on my command,' said Menna to Avni while pointing at the switch. 

'I know, big sis. Don't take me for a fool.'

Both laughed.

'Okay, I am going out. As soon as the planet comes to its original size, land safely at the temple. I will follow you in my capsule. Go back 10,000 years to the time of the birth of Khalia. We have to take care of him at that time.'

'Okay, Menna. Can we modify the plan?'

'Now, what?'

'Can we not kill that little boy?'

'Have you not seen enough the destruction done by him?'

'I have seen and lived through it. But let us choose higher ground.'

The argument went back and forth. At last, it was agreed upon to allow Khalia to live. Although, the sister would kidnap him and raise them in Zorta. 

'Okay, I am going out.' Menna went out and threw that tiny planet into the nothingness of space. After that, Menna went into her escape pod. 

'Okay, Avni. Let unshrunk our home.'

'Copy that.'

A beam from that ship gave the planet its original form. The gravity pulled the pod, and the spaceship somehow managed to land. 

Avni hurried to the temple and waited for Menna. Menna arrived, and they went inside the temple. There was a time machine inside that temple, unknown to the entire universe, except the royal blood. Menna and Avni were the princesses of the Zorta. 

They set the date and kidnapped Khalia from his planet. They sneaked him in the house of their royal servant. They went back to the temple to return to their reality. They set the date, and they were surprised to see their parents waiting for them in the temple. 

Everything returned to normalcy. Expect the memory of Menna and Avni. They vowed to build an army and ammunition to curb that can curb the uprising of others like King Khalia.