Might as well enjoy this, Xalivar thought, making his way back to the throne as the door slid closed behind Bordox. He sat down. He always looked more imposing sitting there. “Lieutenant Bordox, welcome to the Royal Palace.” Tall like his father, Lord Obed, Bordox towered over both Zylo and Manaen.
He’d tower over me, too, if I wasn’t on this dais. Xalivar could see why Bordox inspired fear in some. And yet you don’t fear Davi, do you? His nephew didn’t seem the type to inspire much fear.
“Thank you, Lord,” Bordox said with a slight bow as his index and middle and fourth and fifth fingers crossed in the salute. His gray uniform was pressed and neat, like he’d wanted to make the best impression.
“I have been admiring your work on behalf of the Alliance. A very impressive record,” Xalivar said.
“It’s an honor to serve, my Lord,” Bordox said, his legs wobbling a bit from nerves as he stood at attention.
I see none of the cockiness I’d heard about. At least he knows how to show proper respect. Xalivar reminded himself this was the same cadet who had been Davi’s rival at the Academy. Not to forget that he’d surely been raised knowing the history of the old rivalry between their families. “This is Major Isak Zylo,” Xalivar said.
Zylo nodded to Bordox. “Pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant.”
“You, too, sir,” Bordox replied, continuing to wobble.
I just complimented your record. You’d think you’d relax. “I’ve called you both here for a special assignment. The Council has announced murder charges against Captain Xander Rhii, my nephew.”
Bordox didn’t react, but Zylo’s face showed surprise. “Captain Rhii, sir? I served with him on Vertullis.”
“He was involved in an altercation with a fellow Captain. That Captain was killed,” Xalivar explained.
Ah, there it is, Bordox, in your eyes—is that excitement I see? Good. Perhaps your resentment will serve me well. “Major Zylo will head the intelligence gathering. Lieutenant Bordox will lead in the field.”
Ah, yes, your eyes seem pleased, Lieutenant. I hope your personal feelings won’t keep you from obeying orders.
“Yes, my Lord,” Zylo and Bordox replied in unison.
“I want him brought in unharmed. His last known whereabouts was Vertullis.” Xalivar couldn’t resist playing with Bordox a bit. “I’m assuming your competitive spirit won’t interfere with your understanding of orders, Lieutenant?”
Bordox’s brown eyes showed surprise and he shifted on his feet. “Innocent competition between classmates, my Lord.”
His eyes revealed he was lying but Xalivar smiled, admiring his resolve. “Good, Lieutenant. We’re already three weeks behind him. You should both get started at once.”
Both officers saluted again then turned toward the door as Manaen opened it for them. As they exited, Manaen turned back to Xalivar, his red eyes attentive.
“I want constant reports of their progress, Manaen,” Xalivar said.
“Yes, my Lord,” Manaen nodded then turned and followed the officers.
Xalivar stepped down from the throne and moved toward the window, as the door closed behind Manaen. Miri will have to be dealt with. He dreaded it. I wish it hadn’t come to this, but she’s left me no choice. He wondered why he was so conflicted. Perhaps he, too, had gotten soft. Hmmm. He’d have to work on that.
O O O
A week after their first meeting, Aron invited Davi to accompany him to a gathering of friends. Davi went expecting a small meeting in a private house, not anything like what he found. The meeting took place in a large square in one of the residential districts on the edge of Iraja. Hundreds of workers attended. They all seemed so relaxed and enthusiastic given the fact that mass gatherings of workers were forbidden. No one there seemed concerned about possible repercussions.
A makeshift wooden platform stood in the center of the square, and the crowd had gathered in a large circle around it. Davi and Aron wound their way through the chattering crowd toward the platform. Davi overheard people wondering what this meeting was about. Others chatted about their work and lives. Still others complained about there being too many people for the space. Volunteers handed out buttons with the initials WFR on them.
As they drew near, a pretty young blonde woman standing on the platform waved at Aron and ran to the edge to meet them. She wore a colorful dress bearing a WFR pin like the ones being handed to the crowd. Offering her hand, she helped first Aron and then Davi onto the platform. Davi was surprised by her strength. Perhaps years spent as manual laborers did have its benefits.
Aron introduced the girl as Brie. They were soon joined by a young man named Dru and another woman named Tela. Brie and Dru seemed like they had to be in their teens. Tela was around Davi’s age and quite pretty. She had long brown hair and an attractive curved figure, medium height with blue eyes which sparkled. He had to force himself to take his eyes off of her. She didn’t seem to notice his stare and continued talking with Aron, reviewing the agenda.
Brie smiled, taking his arm and pointing him toward some chairs on the platform. “Let me show you to your seat, Mr. Rhii.” Was she flirting with him?
“Please, call me Davi,” he said, smiling back.
Brie seemed to blush a bit at his smile and looked away. “Okay, Davi. Such an exciting day for the Resistance!”
Yep, definitely flirting. He glanced back toward Tela, hoping she hadn’t noticed. Tela took no note of them. “Which Resistance?”
She laughed as if he were teasing. “The Workers Freedom Resistance, of course.” She pulled one of the WFR buttons from her pocket and pinned it to his shirt, letting their eyes meet a moment. She’d leaned so close her breath warmed his cheek. Again he found himself glancing toward Tela. Again she took no notice. No woman had ever shown so little interest in him. He turned back as Brie smiled. She seemed plenty interested. In fact, for a moment, he actually thought she might kiss him. Forget Tela. Brie’s rather cute. Then she stepped back and hurried off to return to other duties.
As Davi watched Brie go, Tela cleared her throat into a microphone. “Hello, friends! Welcome to the first gathering of the Workers Freedom Resistance! It’s an exciting day for workers all over the solar system!”
The crowd quieted to hear what she was saying. Her enthusiasm was contagious; her lilting voice arrested everyone’s attention. Davi couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
“We have with us today a man whom many of you know and respect, a man who has provided leadership to us through difficult days. I give you Aron Tal!”
Brie, Dru, and Tela applauded. A few in the crowd joined in as Aron took the microphone. Perhaps Aron’s characterization of this as a “gathering of friends” had been hyperbole. Many in the crowd looked as if they didn’t know who he was.
“My good people, it gives me great pleasure to see you here today. For many generations, we have lived at the mercy of our old enemy and rival, whose sole mission has been to control and oppress us. But an opportunity has presented itself to bring about changes. Many of you know me as a man of patience and reason, but I tell you today—my patience has run out! The time for reasoning is very short. We must become a people of action and demand what we deserve—our freedom, our dignity, our planet.”
Shouts erupted from all around them—showing the crowd shared his sentiments, though the looks on their faces made it clear most doubted his veracity. They applauded and cheered for a few moments before Aron continued.
“The Borali Alliance has refused to talk with us. The Lords deem us unworthy of their time and consideration. They treat us worse than they treat their animals, but I believe in part we are to blame for this.”
Mumbles of doubt and surprise issued from the crowd.
“It’s easy for us to blame the Lords, while we continue to do nothing but complain. Over the years there have been many voices, but no action. The time has come for us to work together. Only united can we take action that will have true impact. By uniting together with
the same focus we give to our jobs, we can force them to listen.”
This brought more cheers and applause. A few men near the front began to chant. “Freedom! Freedom!” Others joined in.
“Yes, my friends. Freedom can be ours!” Aron said, stirring the fervor among them.
Davi watched an older woman push her way to the front. “Freedom for what? To be crushed by the Alliance? To be beaten? To be debased? Humiliated as we have been so many times before? It will merely lead to greater oppression,” she shouted.
“Which is why we must work together. We outnumber them here on our own planet. If we stand together, they cannot hope to defeat us,” Aron assured her, smiling warmly.
Davi saw more of the crowd was getting into the idea now. More joined the chant, crying: “Freedom! Freedom!”
Aron spoke for a few more minutes, followed by a speech from Dru aimed at the younger people in the crowd. Afterwards, Tela got up and invited them to sign a petition supporting the Resistance.
As the crowd dispersed, volunteers stood with databoards awaiting signatures, but few agreed to sign. Several expressed doubts like those of the older woman and walked away. In the end, the young WFR leaders looked discouraged.
“Change cannot happen overnight,” Aron said, trying to reassure them. “We must remain firm in our resolve.”
“How can they yell so much and yet walk away so indifferent?” Tela asked.
“We have to inspire them to hope again,” Aron said. “Those impulses have been smashed for years by the Alliance. They need to believe again. And they will in time.” He embraced them each in turn, and then started home with Davi.
“What did you think?” Aron asked as they walked.
“You’re trying to start a movement?”
“We’re trying to unite our people, and get the Alliance’s attention,” Aron said.
“Large gatherings of workers will no doubt get their attention, and they’ll send soldiers to arrest and detain you,” Davi said, fearing for them, though he admired the man’s resolve.
“They have to find us first,” Aron said with confidence. “We don’t gather often like that and worker neighborhoods are usually so quiet. They wouldn’t have expected it. We never meet long enough for them to organize a major response.” He certainly seemed confident that the WFR had thought it all through.
As they walked back toward Lura’s house, Davi became quite disoriented. He couldn’t have found his way back to the square, let alone anywhere else. The location had been well chosen. Its narrow corridors and arches were barely wide enough for pedestrian traffic. It would indeed be hard for the Alliance to move troops and vehicles in and surround them. Nonetheless, he knew the Alliance would find a way, even if they had to drop troops in on top of them.
Over the next two weeks, Aron took him to meetings in other parts of the city, some inside, some in similarly hard to reach squares. The crowds varied in size, but they gradually gathered signatures for their petition. Davi thought the speeches grew better and better each time. Brie, Dru and Tela seemed encouraged and started treating Davi like one of the gang. He even got a smile from Tela once or twice—moments he wished would last forever. He determined to do whatever he could to help them.
At the end of the month, the WFR core appeared on an underground comm-channel show to present their message, and Aron asked Davi to say a few words. He stumbled through them, but they seemed pleased with what he’d said.
“You came along at the right time, Davi,” Aron said as they walked back to Lura’s. “We needed to make the Resistance public, get people stirred up.”
“I don’t understand why the Alliance hasn’t sent troops to arrest you or break up the gatherings,” Davi said.
“We publicize by word of mouth,” Aron said. “I’ve been using the underground comm-channel to spread our message a while now. It’s enough to bring people out to hear what I have to say.”
“Whatever you’re doing it seems to be working,” Davi said as they entered the courtyard near Lura’s house.
They both stopped under the arch, staring at what was left of her front door. The wood had shattered into splinters. Davi stiffened and fear spread through him, as he raced toward the house.
“Wait! We don’t know what’s happened,” Aron called after him.
Davi burst inside to find Lura and Nila being nursed by Nila’s mother, Rena. “What happened?”
Davi and Aron halted in the doorway. Both Lura and Nila had cuts and bruises. Their dresses were torn.
“Soldiers came,” Rena said.
Davi’s heart stopped. Had the officials somehow connected Lura with the WFR’s activities?
“Soldiers? What did they want?” Aron asked.
“They wanted Davi,” Lura said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
This was about him? Davi couldn’t believe it. I thought the warrant had been dismissed. “My gods, what did they do to you?” Davi rushed to her side, gently caressing her head.
She grasped his hand in hers, smiling. “It looks far worse than it is.”
He tried to act as if he believed her, but his face gave him away.
Rena explained, “The Council reinstated murder charges against you.”
“They had an arrest warrant for you,” Lura said, her face full of fear.
“One of them said he knew you,” Nila said. “His name was Bord-something.”
Davi stood there, incredulous. No, it couldn’t be.
“An LSP Lieutenant,” Rena added.
“Bordox?” Davi asked as they both nodded. He turned away. Had his uncle changed his mind? He thought the matter was settled. Was Bordox acting on his own out of hatred and revenge? “How did they find you?”
The moment he asked the question, Calla appeared at the door out of breath. “Death Squads are going house to house, searching for Davi. He’s wanted for murder!”
“We’ve got to hide you,” Lura said. “They could come back any moment!”
Panic rose within Davi. Where could he hide?
Aron nodded. “We have the perfect place. Let me call Tela.” He hurried to the communicator on the wall near the kitchen, dialed several numbers, and then clicked it off. “Now we wait, and pray.”
Davi looked at Lura and Nila and was overcome with regret. He hated being the cause of more hurt for them. Bordox would never stop searching, and if Bordox found him, there was no telling what would happen. He couldn’t call his mother for fear his uncle might hear and notify the LSP.
So much for special treatment, mother. He had nowhere to run. They would have notified the starport. For the first time in his life, Davi felt helpless.
Chapter Six
They waited what seemed like hours at Aron and Calla’s, but when the shuttle arrived, Davi looked at his chrono—ninety minutes had passed. As the shuttle door slid open, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Tela stepped out onto the ramp and smiled at them.
She’s a pilot? She’d handled the shuttle with smooth ease. There was a stirring in his stomach and his heart hammered in his chest as his eyes locked on her. I have to get to know this girl!
They hurried aboard. The shuttle was an older model Davi hadn’t seen in years. It had a gray exterior, instead of the white of recent models. Its interior had the four rows of chairs and harnesses in the passenger cabin and two in the cockpit facing the blast shield and controls.
Tela flew them to the far side of Vertullis over thick and undeveloped forest. It appeared that both the Vertullians and the Alliance kept busy enough with the existing agricultural and urban areas. The forest appeared mostly undisturbed. Tall cedars stretched around them as far as the eye could see. Wood had low value in the system—used mostly for making old-style furniture. Still, when Tela swung the shuttle in amongst them for a landing, it surprised him. Even more so when a portion of a rock wall opened to reveal a large hangar, into which they dove to land.
Stepping off the shuttle, Davi stopped and stared at what lay before him—a genuine Ver
tullian underground military base. Shuttles and a few skitters were scattered all around amidst the tool kits, instruments and personnel needed to keep them operational. Mech-bots of various colors and sizes rolled around performing tasks from delivering supplies to starcraft maintenance. Everyone went about their business with a precision and seriousness rivaling any post in the Borali Alliance. It took his breath away. How could they have built all this under the Boralians noses?
As he took it all in, Tela turned to the group and smiled. “Welcome to the Workers Freedom Resistance.” Her face lit up with pride as did Aron’s and Calla’s.
Davi took is all in and smiled. “I had no idea you could fly.”
“Why? Women aren’t up to the challenge?” Tela snapped, frowning.
Davi raised a hand. “Wait. That’s not what I meant at all—”
“You fighter jocks are all the same!” Irritated, Tela turned before he could say another word and headed off toward a group of mechanics working nearby.
Heat rose inside him. Women had affected him before, but not like this. She was clearly passionate, though he regretted making her so angry. “I think it’s great,” he called after her, but she was already busy chatting with the mechanics.
“I knew you’d been busy with the Resistance, Aron, but I had no idea …” Lura said, amazed.
Aron smiled. “It’s a well-kept secret whose time has finally come. We’ve launched a campaign to gather support among our people, and we hope Davi can offer assistance in moving another aspect of the program forward.”
What do they want me for? His mind filled with questions. “How can an operation like this remain undetected?” Davi asked.
“Radar coverage is difficult to deploy due to the density of the forest. Plus, once they clear the forest, our shuttles blend into intraplanetary traffic, and the Alliance hardly expects workers to have starcraft,” Aron said.
The Borali Alliance rarely monitored intraplanetary traffic. “It must have taken years to build this,” Davi said, full of admiration. He knew the Alliance took for granted that the workers were no threat, but they’d never imagined this. “How do you acquire starcraft?”
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