by Saxon Andrew
The High Cleric shouted, “THAT’S IT!” He pressed his communicator and two armed guards stepped in to the room. Jab saw Ryshana on her knees picking up the food and plate as she kept her head down.
The Third Cleric sneered, “She was an oaf! She bumped my arm!”
The High Cleric shook his head, “I’ve allowed you to keep your title because my mother begged me. But I’ve stood all I can take from your disrespect and obstinate behavior. She didn’t bump your arm! You waited for her to reach and then deliberately hit her.” The High Cleric turned to the guards, “Please take this piece of trash out and administer punishment.”
“But Cousin…”
The High Cleric’s anger was too much, and he stood up, pulled out his blaster, and shot his cousin in the chest. The Third Cleric instantly turned into a vapor that was absorbed by the air handlers. The High Cleric turned to Borgt, “I am pleased that you maintained your discipline during this episode. I don’t know if I could have done the same. You are promoted to Senior Law Enforcer and will report to the Senior Council in the morning to receive your assignment. Notify whoever is assigned to be your commander, to contact me. I still insist on your mate continuing to serve us.”
“Yes, High Cleric!” Jab replied.
The High Cleric turned to the Elder, “You will replace this idiot and take control of his districts. He’s done a terrible job of governing them.”
The Elder was shocked and bowed several times before saying, “I will make you proud.”
“See that you do! This game is over!”
The High Cleric looked at Ryshana on her knees picking up the pieces of scattered food and smiled, “Child.” Ryshana looked up at him. “You have added much to this game. Do not allow yourself to feel responsible for tonight’s events. They’ve been a long time coming and you had no part in them.”
Ryshana bowed her head, “Thank you, “High Cleric.”
The High Cleric turned to the Cleric whose quarters they were in, “Have someone come in and clean up. She will leave now with her mate.”
“Yes, High Cleric.” Everyone left the room and Ryshana stood up and followed Borgt out.”
The Elder walked out with them and could hardly contain himself, but he did. He followed them to their quarters and went in with them. He sat down and started taking deep breaths. “Is something wrong, Third Cleric.” Borgt asked.
The new Third Cleric smiled broadly and replied, “I thought it would take thirty-years to reach this status and I owe all of it to you and your mate. If you have any issues with the Senior Law Enforcer commanding you, let me know.” Borgt nodded. “Tomorrow night you will move to your new quarters on the fiftieth floor. I’ll make sure they’re ready by eight in the evening.”
“Thank you.”
“No, thank you!” The Elder stood up, nodded to Ryshana, and left. Jab looked at Ryshana and raised his shoulder. She smiled, “Module, at least I managed to get one of them killed.”
Jab rolled his eyes and burst out laughing. If nothing else, Ryshana was consistent.
• • •
The next morning, Jab went to his new commander’s office and was given his new platinum bars, which the commander pinned on his collars. It went downhill from there. The Commander was ordering him to a new position on the other side of the planet when his communicator sounded. The Commander picked it up and Jab could hear the voice on the other end. He didn’t understand what was being said but he saw his commander’s eyes open wide as he responded, “Yes…no I wouldn’t do…yes, I’ll make sure he…” Jab heard the contact abruptly end. His commander looked at him, “I’m changing your assignment. You will be responsible for insuring every guard in your building is carrying out their duties properly. You are ordered to carry out any requests made to you by the High Cleric without having to report to me. Do you understand your assignment?”
“Yes, Commander, I do.”
“You are free to leave.” Jab went to attention, saluted with his fist over his heart, then turned and left the commander’s office. The Commander immediately contacted the leader of the Senior Council and warned him to stay away from this newly promoted Senior Law Enforcer. They all knew to heed his warning.
Jab left the building and wondered how the High Cleric knew what was happening. He decided that the higher Clergy could see anything they wanted with their vast system of eavesdropping devices. He remembered the High Cleric leering at Ryshana at the first game and wondered if he would use the devices in his new quarters to try and see her unclothed. If he did, who would ever challenge him on it? He had to warn her. He stopped and had a sudden thought. Surely, he wouldn’t…he had to check when they moved into their new quarters.
He arrived outside the building and raised his arm for a transport. As fate would have it, the same driver that took them to the women’s clothing store pulled up. He stepped out and saw the silver and black tunic Borgt was wearing. With a big smile the driver opened the door, “It looks like congratulations are in order again.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“I have to say that you are young to be a Senior Law Enforcer, no offense.”
“None taken. The High Cleric made the decision.”
Jab saw he Driver’s eyes narrow slightly in the mirror, “Did you say the High Cleric?”
“Yes. He’s been observing me over the last few months and decided to promote me.”
The driver pulled off to the side turned around in his seat to ask, “You’ve seen the High Cleric?! I’ve only seen him on the monitors.”
Borgt shrugged, “I see him once a week at one of his functions. He’s quite extraordinary.” The driver nodded and drove Jab to his building in silence. Jab got out and smiled to himself, as he thought, how does it feel now to have someone know you that can report you? The driver pulled away and was sweating under his collar. He had almost reported the Law Enforcer. He could have been punished for reporting one of the High Cleric’s favorites, especially over such an incidental issue. He decided in that moment that he would avoid this particular officer in the future.
• • •
The move that night posed a problem. Jab knew he couldn’t send the backpack with the movers. Ryshana volunteered to carry it and at eight in the evening, they left their vacant old quarters. The movers informed them that they would not be cleared to enter their new quarters until the designated time. They exited the elevator on the fiftieth floor and Ryshana walked slightly behind Jab. As they passed the guards, one of them saw the backpack and stepped up in front of Ryshana blocking her way. Suddenly, everyone heard in a loud voice, “I WAS HOPING I’D GET HERE BEFORE YOU ENTERED YOUR NEW QUARTERS!” Jab turned around and glared at the guard blocking Ryshana, as the new Third Cleric walked up. The cleric looked at the guard in front of Ryshana and his eyebrows came down, “IS THERE A PROBLEM!?!”
The guard was standing at attention and immediately responded, “NO! THIRD CLERIC!”
“Then get out of the way!” The guard quickly moved to the opposite wall and remained at attention. The Cleric walked past Ryshana to Borgt’s side and took his arm, “You’re going to like this!”
Ryshana remained where she was stopped and turned to glare at the guard that blocked her. The guard saw her expression was angry, just before she turned to follow Jab and the Cleric. They arrived at the door and the Cleric gave them the cards for the lock. The Cleric went through the door first as Borgt waited on Ryshana. She said something to him and both turned and glared at the guard; after a moment, they turned and entered their new quarters.
One of the guards standing close to the offending guard was shaking his head, “Are you insane stopping the mate of a Senior Law Enforcer?”
“You know our orders!” the guard replied defensively.
“Are you aware that this Senior Law Enforcer is in command of every guard in this building and you just stopped his mate?!”
The guard sighed, “I guess I wasn’t thinking.”
“You’re lucky you�
��re still breathing for showing him disrespect!”
Another guard added, “I don’t think you’ll be around much longer.”
The guards heard the offender’s communicator ping and he looked at it. His expression turned apprehensive as he glanced at the other guards, “I’ve been reassigned to street patrol.” He turned away and left the building. The remaining guards looked at each other and decided that the new Senior Law Enforcer could come riding down the hall on a blaster platform and they would ignore it. They especially would avoid the mate. They had no doubt she was the one that caused him to be reassigned.
• • •
Their new quarters was twice the size of their old space. The living room was huge and the Third Cleric pointed out all the new space and accommodations. He spent an hour raving over the upgrades and finally left an hour later. One feature that didn’t make sense was the window in the living room that showed a spectacular view of the city. Jab walked over to it and wondered how a window could exist in a room inside the center of a building. He held up his hand and leaned on the window. It was an electronic image being sent from a camera on the building’s outer wall. It was also one giant electronic recording device. He casually walked around the quarters and found that every room had electronic devices, even the bathroom. Now was not the time to discuss this with Ryshana. He looked at her as she rubbed his neck, “I’m really tired; I need to get some sleep.”
Ryshana smiled, “You’ve had a full day. Let’s go to bed early.”
Jab nodded and went to the bedroom. He saw that the hidden devices were operational. He didn’t say anything as Ryshana undressed and put on her nightwear. They went to bed and Jab pretended to instantly fall asleep. He knew this was going to be a huge problem…but there was nothing he could do about it. The next morning turned out to be a near catastrophe.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jab dressed quickly, excited about going to inspect the guards on the lower floors, he rushed getting out. When Ryshana walked across the living room a few moments later, she saw something shiny on the floor; it was one of Borgt’s rank insignias. He could be punished for being out of uniform. She picked it up and rushed out of the door, trying to catch him before he entered the elevator. A guard saw her exit the door and rushed up, grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her against the wall.
Jab had arrived at the first floor when he heard Ryshana gasping, “I’M BEING ATTACKED BY A GUARD…” Her voice faded out and he pressed the button to return to his floor. He forced himself to remain calm, knowing there were cameras in the elevator. He looked to his left at the mirrored wall and saw an insignia was missing from his collar. Ryshana must have been trying to get it to him. The elevator door opened, and he saw a guard with his hand on Ryshana’s neck pinning her to the wall.
He came out of the elevator at a speed that surprised the guards. They came to attention and the guard holding Ryshana to the wall released his grip as he saw a Senior Law Enforcer was moving toward him. Jab was on him in an instant, as he drew back a fist, and slammed it into the guard’s helmet. The guard was launched twenty-feet down the hall and hit the floor with a crash. He bent down to Ryshana and she quickly took the insignia and attached it to his collar. Tears were rolling down her face and she put her hands on her neck. “Module, are you ok?”
“He hits like a baby. Be careful!”
Jab stood up and glared at the guards surrounding the fallen guard. They instantly went to attention and didn’t move. Jab unbuttoned the flap on a pocket on the front of his tunic, took out his command pad and after he entered a connection code, a Senior Law Enforcer appeared on the screen and Jab ordered, “I require a high-ranking Senior Law Enforcer to witness my administering discipline to one of my guards.”
The Senior’s eyes revealed his surprise, and the pad’s small screen went dark. Jab put the pad back in his pocket, turned, and glared at the guards standing above the moaning guard; none of them moved to assist him. Ten minutes later, the guard managed to go to his knees and then rise on unsteady legs as Jab heard the elevator doors open behind him. He turned and saw a Superior Law Enforcer stepping out of it moving at a fast pace. This could be a problem. The Superior was a low-ranking cleric that had command of every Law Enforcer in the huge city. He could be a problem.
The Superior walked quickly up in front of Jab and saw Ryshana still sitting on the floor holding her neck and weeping softly. He jerked his head up toward the guard and saw he was having trouble standing up and he had a significant dent in the front of his helmet. He turned his attention to Jab and saw the anger on his face. “Report!” he ordered.
“I requested you to come and witness discipline being administered on a guard, Superior.”
“And what is the nature of his infraction.”
“He attacked my mate, Superior.”
The Superior jerked his head to the guard, “Is this true?!”
The guard tried to come to attention and failed. He quickly replied, “Superior, my orders are to confront and challenge anyone on this floor I don’t recognize. That woman has never been on this floor, so I challenged her.”
The Superior turned to Jab, “Is it true she’s not been on this floor before?”
“We moved into our quarters last night before this guard came on duty, Superior.”
“So, he’s correct in saying he has not seen her in the past?”
“That is correct, Superior.” Jab responded.
“So, you struck this guard and want to implement punishment on him for following his orders!”
“No, Superior, I struck him and will implement discipline for his stupidity!”
The Superior was planning to punish this Senior Law Enforcer, but his answer confused him. “Explain!”
“Superior, the only women allowed in this building are the mates of those who live here. All the support units from the maintenance workers to the cleaning staff are male. If a woman is in this building, she is someone’s mate.”
“But he has orders to challenge anyone he doesn’t recognize,” the Superior challenged.
“Challenging someone doesn’t mean slamming them against a wall, Superior. If someone represents a clear danger, then that behavior is appropriate. However, she is half his size and he is wearing armor. She did not represent a danger to that guard and he could have ordered her to stop and tell him who she is and what she was doing. He chose instead to get rough with her by grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the wall.” The Superior glared at Jab and recognized he was unafraid of him. Jab continued confidently, “What would have happened to me and you if one of my guards treated one of the Clerics’ mates in this manner? I suspect that we might be censured for it, Superior. This guard acted stupidly and slammed her against the wall because he enjoyed doing it.”
the Superior turned to the guard angrily and all he could counter with was, “I was following my orders.”
The Superior faced Jab again, “Will you accept the guard’s apology for his behavior?”
“No, Superior, I will not.”
The Superior’s eyes narrowed, “And if I order you to accept his apology?!”
“I will not accept it and request an appeal before the High Cleric.”
“He will not take the time to hear it!” the Superior snapped back.
“Superior, my mate and I serve the High Cleric once a week. My mate serves him, and some other highly ranked clerics. He will ask how she received the bruises on her neck the next time he sees her, and she will tell him how she was treated here today. He will then ask me about what happened, and I will inform him about that guard’s stupid behavior and that you prevented me from punishing the guard that did it. I suspect he will want to ask you about why you prevented me.”
The Superior saw that this Senior Law Enforcer represented a huge problem. If what he said was true…Jab added forcefully, “There is no apology for stupid, Superior. I cannot trust this guard to carry out his duties in a proper fashion.”
; The Superior glared into Jab’s eyes and then, in a blink of an eye, pulled his blaster, and shot the guard in the chest. Just as quickly, the blaster was back in its holster. The guard completely vaporized and the Superior saw Jab flinch. Good! Now he’d know to fear him. “You’re right. You will insure this guard is immediately replaced, he’s demonstrated his judgment can’t be trusted.”
“Yes, Superior.”
“And you will make sure every guard in this building learns what happened here and will not make the same mistake.”
“Yes, Superior.” The Superior glared at Jab a moment, then nodded, abruptly turned, and quickly walked away. He had some discipline of his own to deliver to the idiot that asked him to come here.
Jab helped Ryshana to her feet and walked her to their door. The guards heard, “I’ll be back shortly.” Jab turned and took the command pad out of his pocket. He didn’t want to spend all day interviewing fifty guards from the lower floors to replace the guard that was blasted. He thought a moment and began scrolling through a list of guards under his command. He recognized one on the fourth-floor that was always respectful to Ryshana. He pressed the guard’s name and the guard instantly appeared on the pad’s small screen, “Yes, Senior Law Enforcer, and may I say congratulations on your promotion.”
Jab’s expression softened slightly, “You are promoted to Second Level Law Enforcer and will report to the fiftieth floor to assume the work schedule of a guard that has been dismissed. Remain where you are until your relief arrives and then you will report to your new assignment.”
“Yes, Senior Law Enforcer, thank you.”
Jab scrolled down to the bottom of the list of guards in his assigned building until he saw the list of guards assigned to patrol the streets. He touched the first name on the list and the guard appeared, “How may I be of service, Senior Law Enforcer.”