A laser ray pierced the one on the left, right between his eyebrows.
Jint looked away, Maydeen’s words ringing in his ears: “Inhuman... You two were friends, weren’t you?”
“There’s something more important than friendship,” he answered.
“Now you see what I was so afraid of,” Maydeen told Jint. “In two months’ time, this planet will be taken over by the junkies. And then it truly will be hell.”
“Well, you should have made that clear to me.”
“And show my weak point to the invaders?”
“Hey, Chief Executive,” said the guard, turning to face him with a smirk. “Aren’t you going to ask what we’re going to do to you, or what we have planned?”
“What you have planned? You aren’t strong-willed enough to be planning to swear off Alkyke, that’s for sure. As for what you’re going to do to us, you’re taking us to either Dohkfoo or Anguson, obviously.”
The guard whistled his appreciation. “That’s why they made you Chief.”
“Of course. If I weren’t excellent at my job, I wouldn’t be a high-ranked civil servant in the UH.”
“Uhh, actually, there are plenty of landworlds in the Empire with legalized narcotics,” said Jint. “You don’t have to stay on this planet...”
“Listen to him. Take us back, and I’ll let this pass,” said Maydeen.
The guard’s expression turned serious. “No can do. You don’t know Alkyke. It’s special. No way there’s any in the Empire.”
“I mean, all you’d need is a sample to synthesize the stuff,” said Jint. “I’m no expert on the science behind it, but from what I’ve heard, most anything can be synthesized.”
“Synthesized?” He looked ticked off now. “A synthesized fake could never measure up to the all-natural real deal.”
“I dunno about that,” said Jint. “Shouldn’t you at least give it a shot? If you don’t like it, you can just move right back. We might be withdrawing, but we’ll return in no time.”
“Out of the question.”
“Why?”
The guard didn’t reply, so Maydeen sneeringly answered in their stead. “The fool’s quaking with fear over withdrawal symptoms.”
“Withdrawal symptoms? They’re taking narcotics that dangerous here...?”
“You can’t look for safety in drugs manufactured in a prison.”
“That’s not all,” said the guard, sour-faced. “Even if the Empire does conquer the place a second time, by the time you’re back, they’ll be in control. And they don’t forgive traitors. They’ll torture me to death.”
“And what you’re doing now doesn’t make you a traitor?” said Maydeen.
“I mean traitors, as in people who’ve betrayed them. They cheer and honor people who betray their enemies.”
Jint fervently hoped one or more armed guards who weren’t bewitched by narcotics would do something to stop the car, but nobody was on the road. Instead, a corner came into view where laser beams, gunfire, and ammunition he couldn’t identify were shooting past each other. And he couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but a dense shroud of smoke had enveloped the area. This was the front line.
“I can’t bring you back now. It’s too late,” said the guard, who’d also turned into a bundle of nerves.
“You should quit while you’re ahead,” advised Jint.
“I’m telling you to take us back!” shrieked Maydeen.
But the guard kept his mouth shut. Of all the actions he could take, he must have thought that was the most sound.
Bullets pierced the car, and ricocheted inside.
“You didn’t make it bulletproof!?” Jint asked Maydeen, who was likewise ducking for cover.
“It didn’t cross my mind, no!”
A yelp of pain from in front. The traitorous guard had gotten shot.
“Just deserts,” murmured Maydeen.
But there was no guarantee they wouldn’t meet the same fate themselves. Jint, far from feeling triumphant, only curled in even tighter.
“By the way, Your Excellency, you don’t happen to be armed, do you?” breathed Maydeen.
“It didn’t cross my mind,” answered Jint. He could kick himself.
Customarily, the Abh didn’t carry weapons. To the Abh, the word “weapons” referred to huge warships; they saw next to no value in feeble personal-use firearms. Furthermore, on both his home planet and his second home planet, it had been illegal for civilians to be armed. As such, with the exception of his days on Clasbure, he’d been a stranger to handheld weaponry. Regardless, given their situation, he perhaps should have carried and concealed a small gun for self-defense.
Maydeen clicked his tongue. “Now that it’s come to this, we just have to hope they’re dead.”
He had no weapon, but he did have a means of communication. He’d use this opportunity to at least message Lafier. He brought his wristgear to his mouth.
Then a voice from above shot down their hopes. “Hey, you two gonna be lying down like that forever?”
The guard’s face was drenched in blood, but despite all of the bleeding, it seemed it wasn’t that grievous a wound. If anything, he was sprightlier than before, thanks to the nervous excitement.
Reluctantly, they stretched back up. It was true that the shooting had died down, though great big fires raged behind them. So we escaped that mess, thought Jint, a shudder running down his body.
A figure came into view on the road, who promptly hid behind a building.
The guard leaned out of the window. “Don’t shoot! I’ve got the Chief Executive with me. Tell whoever your leader is. I’ve already run it by ‘em.”
Jint was right cheesed. What am I, the spare?
Chapter 7: The Bar Gœmh (Abh Hell)
“Who asked you to bring a spare!?” shouted Dohkfoo.
“Yell at me if you want, but the guy tagged along, so there’s nothing to be done,” said the traitor.
Jint nearly said: I didn’t “tag along” as a joy ride, you know. But instead, he decided to keep quiet and watch how things played out.
He and Maydeen hadn’t been tied up, but judging by the mugs of the men surrounding them, he had a feeling it would be wise not to make any sudden movements.
They were in the conference room of the administrative building. There, Dohkfoo and Anguson, and around twenty other people, all men, had been waiting for them (or more accurately, just Maydeen).
In no time at all, the room had made quite the transformation. The tasteful opal-white walls had been smeared with primary-color paints, while bottles of booze littered the floor, along with other stuff the use of which he could only guess. They were maybe used for gambling, but he couldn’t be sure.
The second they’d entered the room, the wristgear was confiscated, and he was made to sit in a corner. He didn’t mind not being furnished with a seat — not least because all the chairs, big and small, had been stained and tarnished. There were still a few spots on the floor.
“This just means we’ve got another hostage,” said Anguson.
“Don’t be absurd. Do you wish to stir the animosity of the Empire? If we’d just kept it at the Chief Executive, then we’d have kept things internal. But if an imperial noble gets wrapped up, then who knows what could happen...”
“If that’s what you think, then release His Excellency,” said Maydeen calmly. “I’d thank you to release me while you’re at it, but I daresay that’s not going to happen.”
“You have that right. Releasing you would be quite daft.” Then a sly smile came upon his lips. “Unless, that is, you wouldn’t mind revoking the relocation authorization in exchange?”
“As if I would ever do such a thing.” It appeared as though Maydeen had known they’d make that demand, because his reply was swift.
“You like kids?” asked Anguson out of nowhere.
“What’s this all of a sudden?” scowled Maydeen. “Yes, I do. What of it?”
“I like kids, too. Got f
ive of ‘em, here and there. But I’ll never get to see ‘em again. So I want new kids. And if all the broads leave, that’s no more new kids.”
Maydeen groaned. “All this, for that...”
“What do you MEAN, for ‘that’!?”
Anguson made to punch Maydeen.
“Now, now, settle down,” said Dohkfoo, stopping him. “Why don’t you try putting yourself in his shoes, Chief? That man just dreams of a harmonious family life, that’s all.”
“And if you’d lived good, honest lives, nobody would’ve bothered to sever you from your families,” said Maydeen. “Not to mention, the people you goons murdered had families, too...”
“We’ve no interest in the past,” said Dohkfoo. “Nor do we wish to hear your sanctimonious lecturing at this stage. We’re interested in the future. A future where healthy, happy children run across the surface of this planet called Lohbnahss II. And you’re trying to wrest that vision away from us.”
“Then you should’ve negotiated with Ms. Shungarr. If she would’ve gladly assisted you in creating a beautiful future full of scampering children, then I wouldn’t have put the women on ships out of here. But no. The women were the ones who asked me to get them out.”
“Whatever — just stop off-planeting all the dames!” demanded Anguson, with maximum concision.
“Uhh, as I’ve told you in the past,” butted in Jint, “you can make use of artificial birthing technology to—”
“Kids need mothers!” shouted Anguson, pointing a finger at Jint. “How do you not get that? No matter how much love and affection a father pours into his child, they’ll only ever pick up a tiny bit. There’s a thick cloud hanging between a child and their father. A mother’s love is different, though — a kid picks up on it without a cloud blocking it off.”
“But half of the Abh don’t have a mother...”
“That’s why you’re so messed up!” proclaimed Anguson.
“Mr. Anguson’s beliefs may be on the extreme end,” said Dohkfoo, “but my own opinion isn’t too far removed from his at all. The ideal state is a complete family. To be frank, it irks me to be told I’m a broken man just because I was raised without knowing who or where my parents were, but I can’t deny that my childhood was extremely lonely. And I know I don’t want my children to feel the same way.”
“Be that as it may, the majority of the inmates in the West Zone refused to make families with you lot. What was I to do?” Maydeen objected. “Besides, you can insist the children need a family’s love, but what need is there to be so fixated on natural childbirth? There are plenty of women in the Central Zone. Make your families with them; pour your affection on kids birthed artificially. There’s no way Mr. Dohkfoo’s lot, in particular, will leave behind their kids. Given the same love, what difference is there between children born naturally, and children born artificially?”
“What a horrible person you are,” said Dohkfoo. “Are you telling us to raise children mass-produced in some factory as our own?”
“We can’t love children who don’t have our blood running through their veins,” said Anguson.
“Gentlemen, there seems to be a misunderstanding,” said Jint. “The children aren’t ‘mass-produced in a factory,’ and it’s more than possible to birth children who bear your genes. In fact, that’s how the Abh usually do it.”
“But it’d be a kid with a mother whose face I don’t even know!” Anguson brandished a fist.
“Count, Your Excellency,” said Dohkfoo, “we have no intention whatsoever of adopting artificial-birthing technology. Is that clear?”
Jint just nodded. It seemed there was nothing else he could do. No choice now but to keep quiet and resign himself to the proceedings.
“If you don’t plan to adopt the technology, then give up on having kids. Your choice isn’t between artificial and natural birth, it’s between artificial birth or a childless future,” said Maydeen. “Well, I suppose you can call for female immigrants. Mind you, I don’t know that there are any out there with strange enough taste.”
“So you’re not going to revoke it, no matter what, I take it?” Dohkfoo pulled out a gun.
“No, I won’t! Enough already!” said Maydeen bluntly.
“If you don’t, then...” Dohkfoo raised the gun showily.
“I’m a high-ranking official in the UH. Your threats are empty...”
“I’ll kill him.” He thrust its muzzle square into Jint’s forehead.
“What, me!?” Looking back on this moment later, he knew that was a stupid reaction, but at the moment, he was assailed by pure surprise.
“And what will that get you?” said Maydeen, himself startled. “You’re the one who said you don’t want to start something with the Empire. Do you really think you can get away with killing an imperial noble?”
“I don’t need to tell them I killed him. He’ll just go down as missing on the surface of Lohbnahss II. Alongside the Chief Executive, that is.”
“And what then?” he grimaced. “That’ll just put you in a worse position.”
“You know who else it’ll put in a worse position? The asylum seekers who’ve already left Lohbnahss II. I don’t know what might happen to them, specifically, but I look forward to finding out. What’s certain is that their relocation will be suspended.”
Staring at Dohkfoo’s demented eyes, true fear slowly but steadily reared its ugly head inside Jint, seizing his entire body. His head suddenly felt flaming hot, while an unpleasant dampness clung like syrup to his face. His teeth didn’t want to come together, as his jaw shook uncontrollably.
Maydeen tried talking sense. “You wouldn’t! Our position would worsen, that much is true, but yours would even mor—”
“Don’t worry your head over us. This is the bet we’re making for a kid-filled future.”
Jint suddenly noticed Dohkfoo was sweating, too. Those eyes were more than demented — they were afraid.
“Give me your answer!” said Dohkfoo.
“The answer is NO!” Maydeen answered instantly.
Jint tried to say something, anything, but his teeth were chattering, so he gave up.
“You’ve got me.” Dohkfoo heaved a sigh and withdrew the gun.
Jint, too, breathed a sigh. Everything turned cold, and he held onto his own shoulders; the shaking wouldn’t stop.
“Why won’t you kill him?” Anguson glared at Jint contemptuously. “Damn pansy!”
“He may be a pansy, but he’s a noble. And killing an imperial noble wouldn’t bode well at all. The risk is just too great.” Dohkfoo pressed the gun against the Chief Executive’s head. “You, on the other hand, I won’t hesitate to kill.”
“Go ahead. Do it.” Maydeen was unperturbed. “But what will you do after you kill me? Who’ll be around to revoke the relocation for you?”
“I’ll revoke it as the new Citizen Representative.”
“You’re in for a disappointment. I’ve already submitted to Her Highness the Lady Agent the list of successors. Everyone on the list is an asylum seeker, but so long as they continue to walk this planet, then the role of Citizen Representative will be inherited by the formally decided next-in-line.”
“Oh? And I assume one Mr. Tomasov is at the top of that list?”
Maydeen’s eyes reeled open with alarm.
“What an easy man to read. Hit the bull’s-eye, have I?”
“It doesn’t matter who’s on the list,” said Maydeen brusquely.
“It does matter. Do you really think he’s the only one communicating with us?” said Dohkfoo, pointing at the guard who was just standing idly.
“No, I... there must be more, but...” Now he was visibly disturbed. “Tomasov is the one man I know would never touch Alkyke.”
“So you admit it. It is Mr. Tomasov after all.”
“You can think whatever you like.”
“Thank you for your permission. Now then, you won’t revoke the authorization, correct?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you’ve outlived your usefulness.” Dohkfoo pushed the gun between Maydeen’s eyes.
“Don’t do it...” Cold sweat ran down Maydeen’s face.
“If you would just revoke it, I would gladly refrain.”
“I... I can’t do that...” Then his conviction returned to him. “There’s no way Tomasov is with you. If he’d revoke it for you, you’d kill me without hesitation.”
“You may not believe me, but I don’t like killing. That’s the only reason I hesitate. I assure you, Mr. Tomasov will listen to anything I say. Also, if you revoke it for us, then we can sort this out in the most peaceable way possible.”
“Forget it...” said Maydeen, voice strained. “Tomasov being one of you is a terrible lie, you third-rate conman.”
“I shall give you five seconds. Five, four, three...”
Maydeen screwed his eyes shut.
Jint hoped that, just like when it was his turn, Dohkfoo would change his mind at the last second. But that all it was — hope. His body didn’t, wouldn’t move. All he managed to do was look away from Maydeen.
“...two, one. Your time is up.”
The gunshot rang out.
At that moment, what struck Jint was what he ought not to have dwelt on: So that’s the sound a powder gun makes.
Timidly, he looked over to Maydeen. Once it hit him what he was seeing, something forced its way up his throat.
Maydeen’s life had been snuffed out. After all, it was hard to believe anyone could live with the top half of his cranium blown off. The mass of meat that was once the Chief Executive collapsed facing up, a large quantity of blood pooling behind it. Bits of brain matter were scattered over the blood.
Jint vomited.
“Is this wimp really a soldier?” sneered Anguson.
“He’s a soldier, but he’s a noble first and foremost. I’m sure he’s never laid witness to a corpse before.”
Dohkfoo’s supposition was mistaken. It was just that Jint thought the corpse to which he laid witness wouldn’t be quite as grisly.
Finally, the urge to vomit subsided. “That man... I may not have liked him very much, but he was a good man with a solid sense of responsibility...” He glanced at the lifeless cadaver. “So why’d you need to kill him!?”
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