The Worker Prince

by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

  “Don’t you think that’s unprofessional?” Davi said right away.

  “A few men trying to have a little fun? Like we did at the Academy?” Farien crinkled his mouth as he finished.

  Farien, Davi, and Yao had had their antics but never at the expense of the service workers. But Davi didn’t correct him. “At the worker’s expense! It’s cruel and unnecessary. It’s your job to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Davi said.

  Farien bristled at the tone as the worker returned with cleaning materials. He offered them to the soldiers, who stood there in disbelief. Seeing Davi and Farien watching them, their attitudes changed and they set to work on the mess.

  The worker started to leave but Davi motioned for him to stay and watch a moment as the soldiers knelt on the floor and used rags to soak up the liquid, then twist it out into a bucket. One of them glanced up at the worker with murderous intent.

  Davi stood and stared the soldier down as the timid worker slipped away.

  On the way back to the landing pad, Farien remained silent and distant. As they arrived and stepped off the floater, their eyes met.

  “Am I supposed to protect that worker from those soldiers now?” Farien asked.

  “If any harm comes to him, I want them brought up on charges. Warn them personally.”

  Farien frowned at the commanding tone in Davi’s voice. “Soldiers deserve more respect than workers,” Farien said.

  “Workers are human beings, too,” Davi said.

  “They’re not like us,” Farien responded. “You don’t know. You rarely see them.”

  Davi stiffened, struggling to control his rising anger. He stopped walking and turned to Farien in disbelief. “Tell me you’re joking.”

  “Come on, Davi, you know what I mean.”

  “Yes, I do believe my ears are working perfectly. Being our subjects doesn’t negate their worth as human beings,” Davi said, angry at Farien for having such a narrow mind.

  “Soldiers and workers have different places in society,” Farien said, irritated. “Ask your Uncle!”

  Davi ignored the jab and controlled his tone. “All the more reasons why soldiers should be more dignified, above reproach. How can we ask more of our subjects than we ask of ourselves?”

  Farien shook his head, disgust on his face. “I guess we just don’t see things the same, Davi.”

  “I guess we don’t.” Davi said.

  “Maybe if you were out here in the field instead of being stuck in some administrative office, you’d understand better what we have to deal with,” Farien snapped.

  Davi shot him a look and snapped back, officer to charge. “You have your orders, and I know you’ll follow them.”

  “What’re you gonna do? Take on the whole army over this?”

  “If need be, yes,” Davi said.

  Farien shook his head. “Maybe Bordox is right and your royal upbringing is going to your head!”

  Davi fought the urge to punch his friend. Coming from Farien, the comment stung. He took a deep breath and relaxed his arms before replying. “Make sure it doesn’t happen again!” He turned and marched toward his shuttle, feeling Farien’s gaze boring a hole in his back the whole way.

  O O O

  As his pilot flew them back to Iraja, Davi sat in silence on the shuttle, his shoulders sunken in defeat, replaying his confrontation with Farien over and over in his mind. Why had he gotten so angry? Farien and Yao were his best friends. They’d grown up together. Sure, he and Farien had different views on how the world should work, but it had never led to angry discussions like this. Besides, Davi was a royal, born of privilege. Why was he so concerned about the lives of the lower class? Justice and fairness aside, he had never known any workers before. It wasn’t like he’d given it a whole lot of thought before his arrival on Vertullis. It seemed obvious his anger had taken Farien by surprise as well. He’d have to apologize as soon as he could arrange another visit.

  After the shuttle landed, he spent the rest of the afternoon handling paperwork in his office, wishing he could forget what he’d discovered that day. His computer terminal beeped, notifying him of an e-post. He clicked on his inbox to find an e-post from his mother:

  To: AgriCptSouth@Federal.emp

  From: HRHMRhii@Federal.emp

  Subject: Your concerns

  My dear son:

  Your e-post brings me to a day I knew would come but had long dreaded. I raised you to be an independent thinker, not dependent on the Alliance or your family for forming opinions. I wanted this for you despite the fact so many in our Alliance have never been afforded it, and I offered it knowing that someday it might lead you to some conclusions about our Alliance which might cause you pain or discomfort. If this is the case, please believe I am full of regret, for you know I would never do anything to cause you harm. But you were born for leadership and raised to lead, and good leaders must be able to make hard decisions. That cannot be done in an intellectual box. This day has come faster than I had hoped, but here we find it upon us, and so, as I have always done, I will respond with honesty to your questions.

  Your uncle doesn’t see the world through the same eyes we do. This is the result of both his years of isolation as the leader of the Alliance and the natural development of his personality and knowledge through various experiences. Our father was a very difficult man; though please don’t hear this as making excuses. He tolerated no failure from his children or anyone else, and I am afraid the harshness he passed down has manifested itself in your uncle even more than it existed in himself. Whatever the case, I fear—as time passes and various events come to light from which you have in the past been shielded—for your own good, I might add, out of a mother’s deep love, that you will more and more find yourself coming into conflict with both the ideas and ethics by which your uncle guides himself.

  I beg you to be very careful in how you respond to these revelations. He is, after all, the High Lord Councilor, leader of the Borali Alliance. Our armies, Lord’s Council, and population are sworn through oath of loyalty to serve him. Any criticisms you may have must be handled with great discretion. You can feel free to discuss them with me through our encrypted e-posts, but be very careful. Your uncle has many friends and spies. If you express yourself too directly, I fear how he might respond. You are like the son he never had, and I know he loves you dearly. This doesn’t negate his lesser qualities, by any means, but please keep it in mind before passing judgment upon him. I too have long been disappointed by the Alliance’s handling of the Vertullis situation, but I beg you to understand there is not much we can do to interfere. This pattern was established long before us and has the backing of the highest reaches of government. I long for a day soon when we can discuss these things with more freedom in person. In the meantime, know you forever have my adoration and love. I miss you dearly, my son.

  Love,

  Your adoring mother

  Davi sat at his desk, stunned. His mother had always been candid, but the content of her missive left him at a loss. He’d expected her to remind him of his uncle’s love and urge him to not be hasty in rushing to judgment, but he’d also expected her to tell him he did not yet have the full picture to understand the reasons behind the decisions his uncle had made in regard to Vertullis. Instead, she confirmed everything he had discovered and been wrestling with. What now? He winced at the headache developing behind his eyes. He was a simple Captain, who shouldn’t have to worry about such pressures, right? Yet he couldn’t bring himself to let it go.

  Miri was right. He would have to be careful. Xalivar would indeed have spies and most people in the Alliance were loyal to him. Davi needed to control his feelings and consider each move. Would he take on the whole Borali Alliance as Farien had said? Not even his status as a member of the Royal Family ensured success. He would be fighting an entire system and way of life for his people, and he knew few would support him.

  Slow down, Davi, and remember your place.

  Needing to ge
t out of this office and distract himself, he decided to explore areas of the capital he had yet to see. After all, for the time being, this would be home. It might be a good idea to get to know his environment. He deleted his mother’s e-post from the server and shut his terminal, returned the paperwork he’d been reviewing to his inbox and headed out the door.

  Outside the noise of the city assaulted his ears. As the twin suns sank toward the horizon, the late afternoon light began to fade, dressing the transportation corridors around him in a mix of colorful light and shadows. Just breathing the outside air, despite the city’s pollution, invigorated him. From the smell of chemicals and fuels to that of flowers, restaurant kitchens, animals and people, his senses worked overtime. Past the end of a long block of administrative offices, he entered the narrower corridors of a residential district. The area surrounding the Borali Alliance’s offices had become prime real estate and contained some of the largest houses in the city, most occupied by off-world government employees.

  A few corridors over, a tall security fence sectioned off that neighborhood from the adjacent one. On the far side, the houses changed noticeably: three story apartment buildings mixed with small dwellings, the landscaping sparser, the corridors narrower. He heard even more noise here than in the area around the government center. People bustled around the corridors past shopkeepers on sidewalks drumming up business. It almost seemed like earlier in the day, rather than early evening. In such worker neighborhoods, life began when the people came home.

  He wandered, pondering the juxtaposition between houses which seemed run down, set between pristine, newer dwellings on either side. In other places, a thatch-roofed house would have added plants or laser displays on the sides, its small yard kept tidy and fresh, while vines ascended the walls of sleek modern transparent aluminum dwellings with overgrown yards. Finally, he reached a point where the corridor made a sharp turn.

  Turning the bend, he found himself in the market with rows of stalls and tents of all shapes and sizes, bustling workers and vendors. A few saw his uniform and tensed, looking at him with wary glances but most went about their business as if he weren’t even there. The smell of various perspirations mixed with manure and fresh meats and fruits assaulting his nose.

  Vendors offered everything from standard vegetables like green heads of lettuce, orange carrots, and shiny red tomatoes to more exotic ones like feruca, gixi, and jax—fruits from other parts of the solar system. Feruca was black with a thin skin and soft pulp and was often served with various sauces. Gixi, a round, purple fruit grown in orchards on Vertullis and Italis had a delicious, tender pulp and sweet juice. Jax were blue and oblong with crispy pulp and a taste which went from bitter to sweet during boiling. All had been discovered when colonists first emigrated here centuries ago and now were regular staples of their diets.

  Other vendors offered livestock for sale, everything from blue daken and goats to quats and qiwi, a long antlered creature from icy Plutonis. Dark brown with white spots lining either side of their spines, qiwi stood waist high on Davi and had four long legs ending in black hooves. Their antlers grew up to forty centimeters out of their skulls. He also spotted gungors, the six-legged brown animals with yellow manes raised for their tasty meat. Davi moved on past as vendors hollered prices and argued with customers, while the various animals brayed and moaned around them.

  As he neared a tent, someone poked his arm—a smiling vendor who looked half-human and half-Lhamor, gesturing with his bottom two arms when he spoke, his forked tongue giving him a strong lisp.

  “’ello, Capt’in, my frien’, wha’ever you nee’, I can ge’ for you,” he said with the accent of Italis and patted Davi’s back like they had been lifelong pals.

  There’s a reason others of your race use translators. “No thank you, just passing through,” Davi said with forced politeness, moving on through quickly.

  The market fascinated him. He saw many species and products he’d never seen before, realizing how big the Alliance really was. He hoped someday he might have time to explore it. When he was younger, he’d dreamed of going on a starship to see the planets in the outer solar system—alien species, plants, animals, alien languages. He’d spent so much time in the office, he hadn’t even bothered to discover what awaited him on Vertullis. He dodged another eager vendor and ducked into an alleyway. Quats moaned and darted out of his path, scattering the trash crowding the walls as they ran.

  Might as well see what the neighborhoods are like on the other side.

  Entering a corridor so narrow it was restricted to pedestrian traffic, he set about exploring. The corridor and buildings curved, making it impossible to see one end from the other. He walked past doors and windows of one dwelling after another. Separate units shared outside walls like one long building. The area appeared deserted. Everyone must be at the market or already inside.

  A woman screamed around the bend ahead.

  He quickened his pace, rounding the corner to see an Alliance Captain the size of an air taxi with a worker girl backed into a corner. His gray uniform was dirty and wrinkled, his hair graying around the edges. The girl looked to be upper teens, almost a woman, her stance determined even as she trembled. The Captain struck her across the face with the back of his hand and was preparing to do it again.

  “Please,” the girl pleaded, almost a whimper, “let me go.”

  “You’ll go, when I say you can go,” the Captain responded, his voice like poison.

  Neither had noticed Davi creeping toward them along a wall behind them. As he drew near, his nose crinkled at the overpowering smell of the Captain. He reeked of sweat and alcohol. Not even the sweet pollen drifting off nearby flowerbeds could overcome it.

  “What do you want from me?” The girl’s eyes darted around, looking for an escape as he breathing increased with her panic.

  “I want you to show me the proper respect.” The Captain swung his arm, but instead of hitting her face, which she turned away, he grabbed the collar of her blouse and ripped it open.

  She slid along the wall, trying to get away. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”

  “Workers like you are always disrespectful,” the Captain said. “Stop moving and come closer.” She shook her head as he grabbed her and pulled her to him, trying to press his lips against hers. She kept wiggling and pushing.

  “I’m gonna teach you what it means to obey now, slut,” he said. Buttons popped as he ripped her blouse again and threw her to the ground, climbing on top of her and trying to force her legs apart. She cried out, struggling to free herself.

  Davi rushed up behind him, grabbing the Captain by the shoulders and pulling him off. “Enough, Captain,” Davi said.

  The Captain swung to his feet and whirled around, pulling free with a power that sent Davi stepping back. The sobbing girl picked herself up and cowered against the wall behind him. “Who do you think you are?” the Captain sneered.

  “A fellow officer concerned with a peer’s professional conduct,” Davi said.

  “I’m off duty,” the Captain said.

  “You’re in uniform,” Davi said.

  “I guess this worker slut’s not the only one who needs a lesson in respect,” the Captain said, looking Davi over. He towered over Davi, muscles bulging from his jacket.

  Davi stepped back, hoping the man had slow reflexes like everyone else when he was drunk.

  The Captain swung at him and Davi ducked, throwing a fist into the man’s gut. His fist throbbed like it had hit an iron wall. He groaned, gritting his teeth against the sudden pain.

  The Captain laughed. “Is that the best you can do?”

  “Run,” Davi said as his eyes met the worker girl’s. “Get away now!”

  The Captain swung at him again as the girl backed away. “Where you going?” The soldier asked, missing Davi as he whirled and reached for her. Her blouse pulled loose into his hands.

  Davi glimpsed a necklace around her neck with a blue-green
crest at its center. The Captain knocked him to his knees with a blow he hadn’t seen coming. The man remained calm, relaxed, as if it required no effort, while Davi gasped for breath and struggled back to his feet.

  Where are my friends when I need them?

  The Captain swung again, and Davi dodged to one side. “You need to learn to mind your own business!” Keeping ahold of the girl with one hand, he swung again at Davi’s midsection.

  Davi ducked to one side as the girl tried to pull free. His adversary found himself pulled in two directions but managed to grab Davi’s collar and jerk him roughly off his feet.

  As the Captain pulled Davi closer and closer, the girl bit the Captain, who yelled and flinched, letting her go. Davi tried to use the moment to pull himself free, but the Captain pulled Davi’s uniform collar tighter, causing Davi to slip and fall away from him and into wooden double doors which cracked loudly as they splintered from the force.

  Seeing the girl slipping away, the Captain chased after her, turning his back on Davi.

  Davi needed some kind of weapon. He thought for a moment of his blaster, but the Alliance had laws and he could think of none which would justify shooting a soldier, especially not to save a worker. Besides, the Captain had a blaster hanging on his hip.

  As he climbed to his feet and stepped away from the door, part of it slipped back inside the house behind him. He looked at the splintered wood and began pulling free a section he could use as a club. Wood creaked and snapped as he pulled.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” the girl screamed, as she continued dodging the Captain.

  “Because you’re a worker,” the Captain said, grunting with satisfaction as he grabbed her again and looked around for something to tie her with.

  Davi ran up behind him with the board. Seeing him out of the corner of his eye, the Captain turned, raising an arm, as Davi swung the board down hard atop his head.

  The Captain’s arm deflected the board, sending it hard against the side of his head. Sharp pain filled Davi’s fingers and hands at the force of it, as he struggled to hang on. The Captain froze and emitted a loud gurgling sound, releasing the girl and falling to his knees as blood poured from his ears.