The Spire

by Peter F Smith

  “Don't go,” she whispered into Maria's ear.

  Pain rippled over her face and she gently separated herself from her mother. “Mami, I don't want to do this. I have no choice. If I don't, we all die in a few weeks."

  A loud booming voice interrupted their moment and vibrated the craft, “I’m getting tired of waiting for you and your brat Jackoff." Maria pulled up the feed from the external camera and could see Jeffery Chen, slumped in his throne, a leg draped over a chair arm and the other resting on the back of a servant. The much smaller man must have been under great stress from the weight of the leg as his arms were quaking, or Chen was applying force to the man’s back.

  “He’s playing the megalomaniac part a little thick right now, isn't he?”

  Her mom shook her head. “It's no act. He enjoys abusing people; he always has.”

  Maria nodded and turned to head to the ramp her father was starting to lower. Her mother reached out and grabbed her arm, turning her. “Wait.”

  “Mami please, this is hard enough,” Maria protested. She stopped when she saw her mother removing a necklace and locket from a storage space. She opened it placing it gently in Maria’s hand. Maria looked down on a picture of her as a four year old with her father, mother, and her LED bear. That was a much better time. Things were easier and safer back then. Mr. Miller appeared in her mind and so did Toby. Emotions began to build up in her, and she could feel her throat tightening.

  “Please, look at it often. I'll look at mine and that way we can still share a moment with each other every day,” her mom said, pulling back her hair and showing a matching locket. Maria nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She quickly pulled her own hair back and secured the locket’s clasp. Its weight felt reassuring against her, as if it represented the security she felt all those years, before now. Maria wrapped her arms around her mother for what she feared would be the last time. Warm tears flowed from her eyes and stung her cheek.

  Jeffery Chen’s voice tore through the air and ripped their moment apart as he bellowed out the same phrase in a sing song voice, “Why am I waiting? Oh, why am I waiting so god damn long?" His meaty fist hammered against the arm rest of the throne, setting a predictable beat to his song.

  Maria pulled away and quickly dried her tears. Her mother did the same. “We don't let him see us cry."

  She nodded and grabbed her bag from the storage compartment beneath her seat. She walked with her father who was nearly at the bottom of the ramp with the luggage bot. When he reached the end of the ramp, he stepped onto the concrete of the hangar and turned to offer his hand to her mother. She took it, but Maria couldn’t help but notice the icy glare she gave him as she did it. It left as quickly as it formed. Her mother was furious, but she wouldn't dare give the Chens the satisfaction of knowing for certain what a strain these actions had put on their marriage.

  They walked as a family toward a line of resplendently dressed soldiers all equipped with long and ornate swords secured to their hips. They flanked a red carpet covered in cherry blossoms and seated directly in the middle of the runner was Jeffery Chen. Theatre, Maria thought to herself. She couldn't see them, but she knew dozens of cameras were capturing this moment and transmitting it to the Spires of the other great families. Chen’s allies were no doubt watching and enjoying the thought that they had chosen the winning side.

  “That's close enough for your bot."

  Her father sighed, “We aren't carrying everything ourselves, Jeff."

  Maria could feel the eyes of the other families on them as they stood stopped in their tracks. Jeffery Chen picked at something in his teeth and then turned his attention to them. “Don't worry about it. You're taking all her crap and putting it back on your bird."

  Her mom’s jaw visibly tightened. “You can't be serious. What will she wear?”

  “Whatever my wives and daughters decide she should. You didn't think I was going to let you slip some sort of Trojan horse device into my home, did you? The Silvas of Sao Paolo might have been stupid, but I sure as hell am not.”

  “I had nothing to do with that,” her father stated, his tone staying even but his gaze never leaving Chen senior.

  “The hell you didn't. Their boy diddles your sweet little girl, you pay his folks a visit, and a week later their reactor melts down and they all die vomiting up their guts." He stood. “And, while I do enjoy a good tan, radiation burns are so three years ago, so leave the shit and send the girl.”

  Even sitting he towered over everyone and everything as he sat on his raised dais. His hand motioned for a servant who walked half way between them and waited with a wand device.

  Maria stepped forward, accepting her fate. She could hear her mother’s breathing pick up and watched as all eyes were upon her. She walked up to the servant with the wand. Jeffery Chen smirked, “Strip."

  Maria's stomach dropped, and she turned to look at her parents. She did so just in time to see the multi-barreled Gatling gun on the nose of the transport whip to life and begin spinning. It aimed directly at Chen senior and her father’s finger hovered in the air, over a button only he could see.

  Chen's entire security team sprang into action, drawing their weapons and putting themselves between Chen and the threat of the transport. Maria noticed movement in her peripheral and could see Chen family combat drones moving into position around the transport.

  The tension that ran through the room was thick. Maria's pulse quickened at the idea of dying in a hail of gunfire. She wasn't worried about her father. Even though he had clearly been pushed too far by the order, she knew he wouldn't fire the first shot that would end his family. As she looked out at the sea of faces before her, soldiers with expressions so stoic that they might have been carved from stone, she knew that they wouldn't be the source either. Her eyes fell on Nathan, who stood behind his father and to the right. His eyes were wide and in his shaky hands a pistol aimed at her father. It would only be a matter of moments before he made a foolish decision. The 30mm GAU depleted uranium bullets fired by the nose weapon of the transport would make quick work of this entire group of people, so much so that identification of body parts would likely require DNA testing, but enough of the soldiers and bots would get shots off to kill her family as well. Someone needed to defuse the situation before Nathan or someone else made the final push.

  She opened her mouth to speak, intending to bear the burden of his humiliating order when Jeffery Chen let out a loud bellowing laugh and slowly stood from his throne. “Don't get your panties in a twist Patty, just wanted to see if you still had a pair of balls, wasn't sure if you had donated them to science yet."

  He swaggered through his line of defenders. “Relax everyone, the only person who should make you pucker up like this is me." His mammoth hand slapped down on the head of one of his soldiers, who didn't even so much as flinch. He violently tossed his hair and broke through the protective line. His stride and intense muscle mass projected an air of absolute control, and Maria felt herself becoming uneasy over a totally different reason. Jeff stopped at the side of his aide with the scanner, the turret of the transport tracking his every move.

  Jeffery Chen waved her over. “Come on sweetheart, let's get this over with, and Patty, turn that thing off, we all know what happens here if one of us fires the first shot.”

  He motioned for the servant to approach with the sensor. The man stepped up to Maria, his eyes looking into hers, but she saw and felt nothing from the exchange. He was an absolute blank slate and Maria's skin crawled. It was as if he were an android merely pretending to be a person.

  “Stand with your legs spread shoulder length apart and arms directly out to either side."

  She did as he instructed and he activated the device. Above her head, a holographic representation of her skeletal structure appeared as the wand made its way over her body. “Deep bone scan, really, do you think my dad would bury something in my marrow?”

  Jeff smirked, “TSA regulations.”

 
Her brow furrowed, wondering what the hell was he talking about. “Look, my dad wouldn't jeopardize me by making me into a weapon.”

  Jeff leaned in and said, “Honestly cupcake, given the freaky shit your dad is capable of, it wouldn't surprise me if you weren’t even his daughter but some clone he cooked up, hence the precaution.”

  The servant finished his sweep of her entire body. “Her DNA is a match for what we have on file, along with the expected level of wear and tear one would have accrued over her lifetime. She doesn’t have any power sources or transmission equipment other than her contacts. She is neither a clone nor an artificial construct."

  The man held out his hand. “Contacts.”

  “I believe the word you're looking for is please,” she said as she removed them.

  Jeffery Chen chuckled, “Oh you are soooooo going to hate it here buttercup." He looked over at her father and mother. “Alright, we're done. You can go now.”

  Her mother stepped forward. “We need to say goodbye first.”

  Jeffery Chen rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “Alright, alright, just note for the record how magnanimous I'm being right now.” Her mother and father began to walk over.

  The variety of servants near his throne immediately began to tap away on their tablets. “Oh and make certain that you state that my immense generosity is only matched by the girth of my penis. Wanna make sure that gets into the history books as often as possible.”

  “Overcompensate much,” Maria mumbled under her breath.

  Jeffery grinned and leaned in, his voice full of humor which created even more menace, “My third wife made a similar comment. I ripped off her clothes and whipped her through the halls until I threw her from the top of the Spire and into the city below.”

  Her heart rate jumped and she could tell from the expression of concern on her mother's face that her own must have changed. When her parents were a meter away, Chen held up his hand. “Close enough, don't want you slipping anything on to her."

  An uncontrollable shake began to well up inside of her as the thought set in of what she was about to endure. Her mother shook her head. “You are strong my little jita. You will prosper here. Your father and I will visit often, won't we Jeffery?”

  “I keep my promises, will you?” Chen's eyes locked on her father.

  Her father, smaller in stature and at least forty five kilos, smiled and responded, “I keep all of my promises.”

  Chen's muscular neck tensed and Maria got the impression that her father had referred to something else. Chen grabbed her arm, not enough to cause pain but easily enough to establish control. “We’re done here; see yourselves out.”

  He turned and pulled Maria after, who twisted to watch her mother and father. “Remember Jeffery, not a hair on her head is to be harmed.”

  Chen waved his free hand dismissively as he passed her to one of the guards. Her parents backed away as the guards fell in around her and Chen. Both of her parents turned and strode up the ramp. Less than a minute later the transport was retreating from the hangar and up into the sky.

  She felt someone's breath on her ear and turned to see Nathan, uncomfortably close to her shoulder. “Welcome home honey.”

  ___

  The suite she entered into was large and well decorated. Floor to ceiling curtains stretched toward the heavens and framed the massive picture window that looked out on the metropolis below. Millions of lights merged together to form an ocean of sensory experiences. The urge to explore and learn the stories of the city and its inhabitants began to percolate within her. The skin at the nape of her neck tightened in reaction to a shift in the air. She quickly spun around and found Nathan at her side and leering at her.

  “Welcome to our wedding suite.”

  “Crap dude, do you ever stop trying to be creepy or does it come so naturally you don't notice you're doing it?”

  He chuckled and cocked his head to the side and shook it, a sneer plastering his mouth. He looked at her, the irritation clear in his eyes. “You're stuck here with me now. You really should learn some—”

  She didn't let him finish, her blood instantly boiled and her vision tunneled at his attempt at intimidation. With everything she had endured lately she absolutely refused to let a whelp like Nathaniel Chen attempt to intimidate him. She quickly closed the distance between them. Thrown off by this movement a flash of bewilderment filled his eyes and he took a step back. Maria matched him and put her face right below his. While she was shorter, her intensity made it feel as if they were eye to eye.

  “Manners,” she hissed, nearly spitting the words out. “Why don't you try to teach me some now?”

  She could see from his expression that that he was shocked by this change in her normal pattern with him. He also knew full well that he couldn't lay a hand on her or it would run the risk of war. So he held his ground against her but didn't try to escalate it.

  “Look here chica, your tin man isn't here to save you, so you better watch yourself.”

  “I don't need him to handle a little bitch like you.”

  She saw his control snap. It was signaled by a shift in the muscles around his eyes. He threw his hands out to push her down, but she was ready and faster. Her arms shot up between his and knocked them both to the side causing them to miss her and to leave his entire torso exposed. She stepped in with her right foot, snapping her hip forward while her right hand shifted direction and rocketed into his throat at the same time her foot snapped up into his left knee. He toppled to the ground, trying to drag breath through his damaged trachea and attempting to see through tears induced by the pain of his dislocated joint.

  The memory of Tobor dying in a fireball flashed into her mind and the carefully maintained calm that she had managed to keep for weeks crumbled away. She couldn't control herself as she swept behind him and began to land savage blows and stomps to his back and ribs. He tried fending off her attacks with his open arm but to no avail. Then she smelled it, the musk of the man from the forest. A primal scream ripped free of her body and she began to stomp on his neck, desperately trying to crush the life from him. And then she was moving away from him, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stay on top of him and finish what she started. She realized that there were four strong hands wrapped around her arms and lifting her feet off the ground. An older woman with long ornate robes and a man with a medical scanner hovered over Nathan.

  “You could have killed him!” the older woman screamed at Maria. It took her adrenaline fueled mind a moment to realize that the woman before her was one she had met on numerous occasions, Nathaniel’s mother.

  The men hauled her to the opposite wall, and Maria slumped in their arms, her hair a mess and her chest rising rapidly. Her shoulders bounced up and down and in between her gasps for air, laughter began to escape, “Well, I do so hate leaving a job half done, so why don't you all let me go so I can finish it?”

  The medic came up to Nathan's mother and whispered in her ear. The woman nodded her head and the caregiver and one of the men holding her walked to his crumpled form and lifted him from the floor. He moaned and blood dropped from an open gash in his cheek where she had landed a particularly well placed blow.

  “Stupid girl,” his mother said to her, her eyes narrowed to slits and her voice was barely a whisper. “When we conquer your family, I will see to it that you end up being the camp whore for the division that takes your home and executes your parents.”

  Maria’s laughter intensified, “Would you mind being my mentor? My intelligence reports showed that you have a lot of experience in that area.”

  Her eyes went wide and her arm twitched, Maria knew she wanted to delver a slap, “Try it bitch” Maria encouraged.

  Nathan’s mother cursed in Mandarin, "cào nǐ zǔ zōng shí bā dài!”. She turned and stormed off to escort her son.

  Maria broke free from the grip of the man left holding her as she flipped the older woman. She turned and walked over to the nearest desk and flopped int
o a chair placed in front of it. It took her a moment to realize the man was still in the room. “Do you need something?”

  “You are expected to attend a special dinner in an hour. The entire family will be present.”

  She nodded her agreement. “Okay, not sure how I'll manage to have an appetite around them.”

  He smiled. “You'll be expected to dress appropriately. Your choices can be found in the wardrobe closet.” He motioned to a single door on the opposite side of the suite.

  “Yeah, I think I'll just go in my current clothes.”

  His smile widened. “Your father tasked you with performing in-depth intelligence analysis of the various families, is that not correct?”

  “You know I was.” Her annoyance coming through clearly.

  “Are you aware of General Rhee?”

  “About two years ago, he covered himself in jet fuel and then immolated himself after he failed to capture Okinawa."

  The strange man nodded. “Partly because of that yes…were you aware he had a wife?”

  “Min-Seo, she died about three years ago, not sure how.”

  He began to cluck and he moved toward her. The long robes he wore hid his legs and made it appear as if he were gliding across the floor. He sat on the corner of the desk and clasped his hands on his lap, the smile never leaving his face as he leaned in to tell her something, acting as if it were a secret. “Master invited General Rhee and his family to dinner one night to reward the general for the conquest of Taiwan. His Excellency commented to Min that he felt that a shade of blue for her wardrobe choice would better compliment her eyes. She jokingly stated that she would leave matters of global politics to him so long as he left issues of fashion to her. It was a very popular jest and everyone in attendance thought it very funny including my master who laughed the most. Just prior to the second course being served the royal guard entered, flung her upon the table, and skinned her alive in front of the guests and her entire family. Master then ordered the general to wear his wife for the remainder of the meal. Master Chen laughed just as loud then as he had the first time.”