The Worker Prince (8 page)

Chapter Three

When Aron had informed her that the courier craft malfunctioned, Lura thought she’d never find breath again. She’d collapsed on the floor of her home as visions of every worst-case scenario clouded her head. Perhaps it had burned more fuel than Sol and Aron’s calculations anticipated, running out and leaving her only son to die in orbit or forever drift in space. Could it have been struck by an asteroid and disabled, or worse, exploded? Maybe the life support had failed and Davi had died inside. They had no way to know if it had landed, because its tracking device failed to maintain contact with the computer at the depot. Sol had been working on the device the day they rushed to launch the courier. Her only son was gone forever!

Worse, Sol had been arrested for treason and taken away. She’d heard rumors he’d been sent to a science planet somewhere, but she had also heard talk of his execution. She never really knew for sure. Just like that, she was alone.

Aron took care of her, taking her into his home to live with his family and treating her like a sister. His children even called her “auntie.” But when the attention of government spies on his own activities made it impossible for him to remain, Aron and his family had gone into hiding, leaving Lura alone again.

After her brother-in-law’s death in a tragic incident with soldiers, her sister came from the countryside with her children to live with Lura. She welcomed them. After five years of loneliness, she loved having a family again, and it seemed as fine a life as a Vertullian could expect. She still thought of her missing son and husband, but those thoughts were more fond these days and less dark and disturbing.

The whoosh of the opening door drew her attention. It slammed into the wall as Nila stumbled through the opening, her clothes torn, her face bruised. Blood dripped from a cut on her forehead.

Lura gasped. “Nila! Are you okay?” She rushed to help her.

It took her niece a few moments to catch her breath but then she nodded. “Two Captains … One tried to rape me … The other helped … Had a necklace … Like mine.” Nila reached through her torn blouse and pulled out the family crest just like one she’d placed in the courier beside her baby son before it launched, taking him away.

Surely her niece was mistaken. “A Borali Captain with our family crest?”

Nila’s eyes widened and she smiled with glee. “It’s him, Aunt Lura! Your Davi!”

Lura stepped back, stunned.
Could it be, after all this time, God’s finally chosen to answer my prayers?

After she’d cleaned Nila up and put her to bed, Lura sunk into a chair, feeling like she’d lost the power to stand. She couldn’t believe it! She’d long ago given up the dream of ever seeing him again, and yet, according to her niece, the son she’d lost so long ago lived across the city?
My Davi!
She thought.
Could it really be you?
She tipped her head back against the back of the chair and screamed.

Her first instinct was to run and embrace him but it might not be well received. The last thing she wanted was to scare him off.
He has the necklace, sure, but does he know who he is?

In fact, she had to be sure it was Davi. What if someone else had somehow wound up with the necklace, having no idea of its significance? It would be dangerous for her to inquire too openly, exposing herself to scrutiny from any Boralian officer or soldier. Especially after what had just happened to Nila.

She managed to kneel on the floor beside the table in prayer, seeking God’s guidance about what to do next.

O O O

The knock on the door of his quarters almost sent him into a panic.
Could they be after him already?
Davi sighed and raised his shoulders, trying to calm himself. It had been twenty-four hours since the Captain’s death and no one had come.
You’re just being paranoid.
Straightening, he opened the door to find a humanoid smiling at him.

“What are you doing here?” Davi asked with surprise as he immediately relaxed.

“Is that any way to great your best friend?” Yao said with a laugh. “Can I come in?”

Davi chuckled, stepping aside and motioning for him to enter. “Of course. I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting you. School on a holiday?”

Yao stepped inside and the door slid shut behind him. “In a manner of speaking. Your mother sent me.”

My gods! Word had gotten to her already?

Yao smiled. “About your e-post.”

“Oh,” Davi said, trying to hide his relief. “Of course.”

“She told me you’re finding things here harder than you’d expected,” Yao said, looking concerned.

“Yeah, well, it’s not the glorified adventure we all talked about,” Davi said. “You want a beer?”

“Sure,” Yao said as he settled onto a couch, leaning back. “She filled me in a little. You want to tell me more?”

“Okay, but first, how’s Presimion?” Davi asked as he opened the cooling unit.

Yao straightened involuntarily, his enthusiasm obvious. “It’s pretty terrific, actually. I wasn’t going to bring it up. Didn’t want to rub in my good fortune in light of—”

“It’s not like it’s the end of the world,” Davi said, closing the cooling unit and returning with two beer bottles. He handed one to Yao. “Let’s call it a rude awakening to the real world.”

“Ah, I see. Like a rite of passage sort of thing?” Yao took the beer and opened it with a familiar hiss both barely noticed, savoring its scent as he waved the neck under his nose. His face lit up with delight. “Mmmm. Been too long since I had one of these. Teachers aren’t allowed to drink on Academy grounds.” He closed his eyes and smiled as he enjoyed a long first sip.

“Maybe you should get out more.” Davi uttered a satisfied sigh as if to say he drank these all the time, though he didn’t.

“Maybe I should,” Yao laughed. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” Davi said, smiling and sipping his own beer again, as he settled into a lounge chair across from his old friend.

“How’s Farien?”

“Oh, you know Farien. Give him a few men to boss around and a little freedom, and he’s on top of the world,” Davi said.

They both laughed as they pictured it.

“Gods help those poor soldiers,” Davi said with mock horror and they both laughed again.

“The worker-soldier thing has been going on for generations, Davi,” Yao said, cutting to the chase. “It didn’t develop overnight, and it won’t change that fast either.”

“Have you ever met a worker?” Davi asked. Yao shook his head. “I know the history. But book learning and reality are not the same when you’re staring a fellow human being in the face and one of you is supposed to be superior over the other by birth.”

Yao nodded. “You don’t think a Tertullian can relate? Your ancestors wrestled with this issue eons ago on Earth.” Always a history buff, he read voraciously in his spare time—anything he could get his hands on from history to the sciences.

“Oh yeah? What did they do about it?”

“Well, much of the world outlawed it in the nineteenth century, but reports continued of slavery in various places almost until the colonists began departing for other systems,” Yao said.

“Sounds like they never really found a solution,” Davi said.

Yao shrugged. “Not totally, no. You realize you’d have to take on the whole Alliance?”

Davi smiled. Sometimes the three knew each other too well. “Farien said the same thing.”

“How’d that conversation go?”

“Not well.” Their eyes met and Davi saw Yao already knew what was coming. “He didn’t seem to understand my feelings. To him, it’s like a natural course of events. He’s too busy seeing the workers’ faults to see their humanity. He’s bought the Alliance’s party line one hundred percent.”

“Well, we both know Farien’s no great thinker. He’s got a lot of qualities which make him an ideal soldier, but intellect is not at the top of the list. He probably hasn’t given it much thought. Most soldiers never do. They train us to obey, remember?” Yao paused and looked at him as Davi nodded. “On the other hand, I do see his point. You’re treading a dangerous line here. You could lose everything if you fight this.”

Davi stood and paced, his body stiff with tension. “So you think I should just ignore what’s happening, get on with my life?”

“I can’t tell you what to do, Davi, but it’s a big risk.”

“Now you sound just like Farien,” Davi growled and drowned the words with another gulp from his beer.

Yao’s purple eyes softened to violet with sympathy. “Hey, I’m on your side here, okay? One man can’t change an entire culture.”

Davi wiped his lips on his sleeve and met his friend’s eyes again. “This man has to try.”

Yao sighed, sinking back into the couch again. “Why?”

Davi stared at him a moment, anger mixed with disgust. But Yao wasn’t the bad guy.
You’ve got to tell him.
Ignoring his internal voice, he shrugged.

“Have you spoken to Farien since?” Yao asked.

“No. There hasn’t been an occasion.”

“Maybe we could pay him a visit,” Yao said. “Be good to have the three musketeers back together again.” Yao loved references to the classics. Along with history, he’d read many novels.

“Sure. Of course …” Davi’s voice trailed off as he looked away, lost in thought.
Should I tell him?
He needed to confide in someone before he burst.

Yao’s brow furrowed, his eyes narrowing. “You look as if you haven’t slept. Your eyes seem as if they’re carrying the weight of the world. What haven’t you told me?”

He’s one of the only people you can trust
, Davi thought. If nothing else, he needed to talk through his options. After all, there had been a few witnesses, and sooner or later somebody would talk.
But he’s a loyal officer of the Borali
Alliance, he reminded himself.

“Come on, Davi. It’s me,” Yao said, his eyes pleading as he sat forward with genuine interest again.

Davi could hold it in no longer. He recounted for Yao the events of the night before with the worker girl and the Captain.

When he’d finished, Yao looked stunned. “My gods! You’re sure he was dead?”

Davi looked at the floor.

“They saw your face?”

“I don’t know. It was getting dark, lots of shadows. But what if they did?” Panic set in again as Davi thought about it and every muscle in his body tensed.

“It was self-defense,” Yao said as he deliberated. “Given your status and reputation, I think they’d have to take that into account.”

“You know the law. I was defending a worker.”

“I thought you said you weren’t having much of an adventure here,” Yao teased, trying to lighten the mood as they always did when one of them was under stress.

“What I said was not the glorified adventure we’d all talked about,” Davi reminded him.

They both laughed as they flashed back to the naïve daydreams of their Academy days.

“Amazing how grown up you can feel a few months after graduation,” Yao said.

Davi nodded.

“We’ve got to ask your mother for help. She has the power to protect you.”

“I don’t trust the communications channels. The government has spies everywhere,” Davi said, but in that moment there was no one he wished he could talk to more than Miri.

“Sounding pretty paranoid for an officer of the Alliance,” Yao said, but from the look in his dark eyes, Davi knew he understood. “Come on, let’s fire off an e-post to Farien. Maybe he can come here and meet us. He might enjoy a night away from the field.”

Davi chuckled, stood and led him to a nearby desk, where he sat again and turned on his terminal. “There’d sure be a lot more to do here than where he’s stationed.” He began typing an e-post as Yao looked on.

O O O

Wearing the best clothes they owned, so they wouldn’t look like workers, Lura and Nila wound through the worker neighborhoods past the security fence and into the free neighborhoods of the city. They hung to the shadows as the twin suns peaked over the pinkish violet horizon to the west, hoping no one would try and stop them. They carried fruit as a gift for the barracks and hoped to catch a glimpse of Davi. Lura couldn’t resist. Her heart had been skipping in her chest ever since Nila told her about the necklace. If this might really be Davi, she had to try. She’d waited so long, almost given up hope. Nila had insisted on coming along.

As they crossed the corridor from the residential districts, the government area looked deserted. The hum of transports and usual city smells filled their senses, but it seemed they’d chosen a good time to come and not be noticed. Lura had no idea how they would get the fruit to the soldiers without drawing attention, or even how she might be sure Davi himself would receive some fruit. But her mind was racing even as they walked the long block alongside the Alliance offices.

An air taxi pulled to a stop beside a small side gate up ahead, and three officers stepped out onto the sidewalk. Two were human, the third a dark humanoid with purple eyes.

Lura’s heart began racing as she saw their faces.
It’s him! My God! He looks like his father at his age!

He wasn’t the tallest of the three, but the middle one, average height and thin, so dashing in his uniform, with neatly combed light brown hair, and tanned skin. She fought the tears which welled up in her eyes.
Maybe we can talk to him.
The urge was so compelling.

She started rushing toward them, but Nila reached out and caught her arm, whispering urgently, “Auntie, wait!”

The three officers stepped through the gate as Lura and Nila approached. Two guards intercepted them, bur Lura’s excitement got the better of her and she pushed forward against them, straining for another glimpse.
They’re walking away from us. What can I do?

“What’s your business here?” the taller of the two guards asked, shoving Lura back.

“We brought some fruit for the soldiers,” Nila said, her voice wobbling in fear. She extended the basket she carried toward him.

Take it
, Lura urged him with all her heart as its thumping beat filled her ears.

“Soldiers can’t accept gifts here,” the other guard said, looking them over with suspicion.

“We’re sorry. It’s some fruit from the market. To thank them,” Nila said. Neither of them knew what else to say.