The queen yawned, “Cataline, please turn this off.”
A soft wind blew across the refined landscape. The breeze carried the fresh smell of spring. The young princess returned to the marble patio.
“Mama, can you help pick out a dress for the party tomorrow?”
Pleb City
“Cox, there is absolutely no way I’m going to put that on.” The prince was mustering any last shred of dignity.
“Your highness, they are going to be looking for two men of military stature.”
“Well then, what are you going to be?”
“I can wear this, my lord.” Cox held a large dress against himself.
“And what about your hair? You have none.”
Pressing a serious tone into his voice, the weapons master said, “I’ll wear that hat and pull it low. People will think I’m your older sister. We can say I am sick.”
Hadrian quietly muttered, “This idea is sick.”
Ignoring the comment, Cox replied - giving an order, “We definitely cannot walk around the city shirtless from the forest.” The weapons master exhaled in frustration. “Tonight is party night in the town. If we hurry along and keep our heads low, we will get through. Your highness keeps his hair long.”
At the edge of the forest, they had scaled the protective wall and landed in an alley, behind a row of stores. Cox dismantled the alarm system and forced open the door of this dress shop.
Tenaciously, Hadrian maintained a young man’s opposition. “Cox, please. Not in public? Imagine the embarrassment if we are caught.”
“I don’t mean to censure his highness, but respectfully, I am in command.”
Cox forced the prince to make eye contact. Something his highness avoided. “You’re worried we might get caught? My lord, if we are caught, we will both be thrown into prison or worse… Looking like fools is the least of your concerns!” Impatience clearly registered on the minder’s face.
The older man whispered under his breath, “I do miss your grandfather’s day. The old king would have permanently kept your mother’s family pinned under his sharp boot. This is what appeasement yields.” The prince heard the comment and was irritated at the slight to his father.
After donning the awkward costumes, the debutantes headed outside the shop with heads down. “This is not fitting in,” Hadrian grimaced. His large frame was busting out of the dress. Worse, the prince appeared bloodied from a fistfight.
The neighborhood surrounding the spaceport consisted of warehouses and tenement neighborhoods for the workers. Of course, there was a large entertainment district. Being a warm night, all the local establishments threw the windows open café style. They hadn’t planned on the sidewalk becoming a stage.
Hurrying forward, the two ran the gauntlet as the patrons harassed the amateur drag queens. Hadrian was horrified. But as luck would have it, they passed unrecognized even though the prince was well known throughout the city. Eventually and with great relief, they reached a darker, less vibrant part of town.
“According to my com, isn’t Katcha Street over there?” The prince pointed.
“Yes it is. We aren’t going to Katcha Street. Nobody knows where we are going but the king and a few others. We are close.”
In two or three dark blocks, Hadrian found himself standing next to Cox under a door with a raw light. The place was a warehouse from days’ past. There was no button to push or screen to touch. Cox knocked firmly on the metal. No answer. He then employed his fist and pounded the entrance until it shook.
After a few minutes, they could hear a faint shuffling on the other side. Slowly, the door creaked open on antique hinges. A small creature, with the eyes of the indigenous people, cracked the door slightly. The king had called them, Chiang. A thick chain barred the opening. Behind the old man towered an obvious son who aimed an old blast gun at the two solicitors.
The old man’s stringy neck moved up and down as he croaked, “Good evening ladies.” With a wry smile and a nod, he added, “The one playing the prince will die if you move. We knew someone would come around eventually.”
Cox slowly put up his hands, “We were given this address by the king himself. We need to get off planet. The password I have is ‘red asylum.’ I also understand you were well paid for this service and in advance.”
The ancient wore a quizzical look and clarified, “Yes but we will need a final payment before you depart.” The old man removed the chain and opened a door that groaned when it moved.
Father and son led the fugitives into a dim, center section of the warehouse. Through the darkness, the elegant form of a landing pad emerged. And there sat a cradled hover, system sequencing prior to take off.
Hadrian wondered, “How did father get that thing in here without general notice?”
The ancient urged them, “They are looking for you. Quickly, get yourself strapped in and throttle out at full power. My men will open the roof to make a small hole for the ship. We will also detonate a round of miniature explosions near the security compound. The patrolling hovers will be drawn to that like bees to honey.”
The younger Chiang put a hand on Cox’s arm, as if to say pay attention. Cox pulled up with ferocious speed and was ready to strike this other boy.
“Wait weapons master. There are four of my men above you and with blasters. They have night vision as well. I am not finished. Authorize the transfer of our final payment while the prince waits with us.”
When Cox boarded the hover, control panels sensed his presence and automatically clicked-on. Although the ship had advanced power systems and appeared very modern, all the operations were familiar to older models.
Cox spoke into the com, “Old man, can you hear me?”
“Who are you calling old,” the irritated Chiang rasped?
“You,” Cox said curtly. Standing next to the wizened patriarch, the prince hid a small smile.
The weapons master calmly continued, “I am transferring the money now. You will need to move these funds. We’ve lost control of the monarchy’s computer. Cataline will notice large amounts.”
“I see the transfer is complete. Thank you Cox.” The old Chiang then gravely turned to the prince and said with a rigid formality, “Your highness, good luck to you. I hope you and the king prevail and punish these traitors.” Always playing his well-rehearsed role, the prince inclined the royal head. Either party said nothing further.
After Hadrian bounded on board, Cox barked, “My lord, take the front controls. You have always been the better pilot. I will handle rear cannons. Your mother and whoever else is behind this won’t let us go lightly.” The younger man could tell his mentor was trying to remain calm. These events were highly unusual for both of them.
Sotto voce, explosions were heard.
Fitted with modern hydraulics, the old roof rumbled open to the stars. The hole was just enough to let the hover pass. Only a skilled pilot of Hadrian’s caliber could leap at full speed through such a small space.
Silently, the ship ascended into the evening sky with untold velocity. Hadrian smiled. He enjoyed piloting these machines and this one was miraculous. The tremendous force of gravity pulled him to the seat. He then made a soft arc away from the city preparing to rocket through the atmosphere.
Speaking into his com, Hadrian said, “Cox, where are we going?”
“I put the destroyer’s coordinates into ship systems. Memorize them now. They will automatically erase when we clear the planet. You have to get us there without the computer.”
Teramar’s thick atmosphere violently shook the flying machine, which creaked and groaned under the strain. In seconds, they broke through, soaring into the stars. Traditional engines seamlessly switched on and roared them away from the planet. The hover’s gravitational system quietly adjusted and established a natural environment.
Cox said, “My lord, I am trying to raise your father’s people on a secure line. There is still no recognition on their end. Wait. I see an incoming message w
ith a royal signature. I am letting it through.”
The queen flashed onto both of their coms. Livia looked serenely at them from her terrace. Raising an eyebrow, she spoke, “Hadrian darling, where are you going?”
“Mother, is it a coincidence we can speak with you but father is nowhere to be found? Please, my own guards attacked us while on the hunt.”
He couldn’t even look at the screen.
“Hadrian, you don’t have all the information. You are my child and heir. Return immediately and we can work this out.” She knew that was too imperious. Her skills as a mother were covered in rust.
Trying to appear the bored aristocrat, and downplaying the fission of alarm, the prince casually replied, “I see you have dispatched a sortie of hovers. That is not a sign of good faith. Where is father?”
The queen composed her face as a fresh palimpsest. Then, with all the motherly reassurance she could manage, Livia tried again, “Now Hadrian dear, please remember you also have my blood in you as well. Trust me. We can put the family back together. And, I give you my word your father is alive.” This time she sounded very convincing.
Uncertainty surged inside the prince. His mother’s words tugged him home. She was after all his mother. But, Cox abruptly snapped off the signal (again). The queen disappeared.
“Wake up, my lord. She has powers, even through the halo-screen. Your father is probably in prison or worse. Moreover, I am sure they are in the process of hunting down all those loyal to him. If you go back now, her family will put you in some sort of jail-of-a-school where you will be rehabilitated.”
The moment Cox turned the queen’s transmission off, Hadrian’s ennui immediately evaporated and the prince’s military sensibilities returned. “I am so sorry, Archie.”
“My lord, we need to focus. Four of the pursuing hovers are breaking away from the pack and are gaining on us. They probably sent their fastest ships. Continue to pilot and manage automated defenses. I will endeavor to take some of them out with the cannons.” Hadrian flipped the defense module to life. Suddenly, he saw an escape pod jettison from the hover.
The prince heard Cox’s voice, “Hadrian (not my lord), I am in the pod and have armed the self-destruct. I am tracking to meet them and will detonate once they are upon me. At such a close range, their shields will be useless. If they see a life form inside the pod, they might slow their pace thinking it is you.”
Hadrian was horrified. “Cox, my oldest friend, you do this without discussing it first? I am swinging back to retrieve the pod.” The prince tried to maintain calm, presenting this as an order. “I am your prince.”
“Hadrian, please press on or you will be taken by the explosion as well. You don’t have enough time. Son, I will always be with you in your mind. We have had a true friendship all these years. I am happy to go to the otherworld knowing you will live to avenge your father. Please carry on.”
It was all too quick. Sure enough, there was a flash of white light across the horizon. The queen herself could have probably seen the explosion from her terrace. Tears flowed down the prince’s face. His shoulders shook in frustration.
From the time he was a young boy, Archibald Cox was always at his side for training, for companionship, and for life’s lessons. Hadrian remembered how he had badly lost his first military contest. The other boys whispered about it. Thereafter, Cox worked with him everyday for most of a year to repair a battered confidence.
Badly shaken, the prince tried to sober his mind by reciting verse as he went through the motions of piloting the hover. Cox’s last orders were to be obeyed.
As the ship lapped up the sectors, the remaining hunters fell off the sensors. Far from the home world, Hadrian then adjusted for the final coordinate, driving toward the last moon of the last planet in this large system of thirty-six planets. Outside the hover’s windows, he saw the barren, rust colored sphere gain prominence as his ship made its approach.
A gigantic space machine slowly came into view. The hover, latched onto a new course provided by the other. The destroyer guided the hover into an open bay. Carefully, the prince fired thrusters, manually alighting on the deck.
Hadrian, still wiping tears from a puffy face, nervously walked onto the vast, vacant space.
A halo-screen dropped and a bland looking woman appeared. “Welcome prince. I am the Computer Jessica and am sorry to meet you in such terrible times. I can confirm your father has been taken. However, I am not sure of the king’s well being. Your father left orders that we depart this system for a place of safety – a place called earth.”
Hadrian pleaded, “But you have a fleet of robo hovers in the belly of this ship?”
“My lord, we might strike a fierce blow but we won’t win the war.”
While she spoke, Jessica laced the atmosphere with a heavy sedative. The prince collapsed just as a medical gurney caught him before hitting a hard floor. Large blond legs dangled over the edge.
With the tenderness of a mother, the Computer Jessica cared for Hadrian’s wounds, cleaned him and tucked her charge into a long-range, hibernation bed. The ship’s engines then powered up and blew into the night.
Distance Sings
The fleeing warship careened through a spacehole pushing many light years toward a distant location in the galaxy. With great care, she laced thread through needle to finally arrive at a small blue-green world referred to as earth by the local population. Hadrian’s grandfather was the first to discover this planet where they found a young civilization that was just coming into its own. Uncharacteristically, Teramarians gave this new world a chance to evolve without assistance from the crown. The decision to save earth from empire, however, was not driven by some altruistic motive. Due to the great distance between earth and Teramar, the then king would have had to make an enormous outlay from the royal treasury to harvest the new world’s resources. The economics of the day were simply not in favor of a colonial enterprise. Instead, the throne ordered that its scientists throw a veil of secrecy around the discovery. Habitable planets were a rare find indeed. Earth then was designated a royal refuge during extreme times of unrest.
Mindful of her important cargo, Jessica carefully powered down the great engines and eased into rotation round the planet. Outside ship’s windows, streaming stars ceased to swim through the dark ocean of space, and the rubbery hull hardened into a starship once again. She then activated a complex ring of shields that cloaked her substantial mass. The prince’s ship would appear as mundane as any starry sky to earth’s telescopes and satellites.
As she established their base camp, Jessica also released the prince from the hibernation tank. In earth time, the journey lasted three months on ship. Off ship, six months had actually passed. After an emotional turn of events on Teramar, events that culminated in the death of Archibald Cox, Jessica welcomed this sojourn in the hyber-tank as an easy anecdote to the trauma. She recognized that being a dictator’s son certainly had its downsides. But Jessica was a computer, not a therapist. Deep sleep was the only first aid she was qualified to administer. In fact, Jessica wished she might have permanently kept him in this state until they could return.
When the hatch slid open, Hadrian immediately stirred inside the cushioned interior. The royal engineers had designed this particular hyber-bed for a member of the royal family. Extreme comfort was the primary design specification for one of the most important berths in the kingdom. The prince shielded his eyes from the light. Matted blond hair clung to his face and neck. “Does it have to be so bright?”
The lights immediately dimmed. “Apologies sire.”
Hadrian fumbled as he tried to gather up stiff hair. “Fasten,” he ordered. Birdlike hovers immediately fluttered into position, retrieving the tangled mess from the prince and then carefully arranging natty strands into a rough ponytail.
“What do I call you again?”
“I am ship’s computer. My name is Jessica.”
“Can you access Teramar’s systems?”
“No your highness. When we left, Cataline and your mother had successfully closed the main arteries into command. I had no choice but to leave. We couldn’t risk the chance of your discovery and capture, no matter how remote.”
“A simple yes or no would have sufficed,” said an irritable prince.
Hadrian gingerly pushed himself up, sitting fully erect. He was nude and cold. “God, I stink.”
With great care, he put one leg out and heaved himself up. Pull bars hung above each tank for this very purpose. Most humans, no matter how youthful, never really bounded out of hibernation. The prince looked around and took in the ship. He saw hundreds of tanks, all lined up. All empty.
Jessica offered her advice, “Sire, you’re muscles have not been in use for weeks. Please do not push yourself.”
Hadrian didn’t reply. Ignoring computers was almost a hobby for the young man. Instead, he issued an order, “Jessica, could you warm up the room?” Almost immediately, the temperature turned comfortable for the prince.
“Where are we now?”
“We are orbiting a planet named Earth.” A magnificent halo-screen dropped and she presented a live image of the world.”
“And what is this earth? Does the planet have a population?”
“Yes, the planet supports a fairly evolved people of many races and cultures. Their numbers are in the billions, more than all of the people, in all of the planets in your father’s kingdom combined. Your grandfather discovered this world many years ago. In time, I might be able to authorize a trip to the surface. We’ve always wanted to learn more.”
“Who is we,” asked Hadrian?
“Your father and myself. I am executing his orders.”
Jessica ignored the boy’s tone. Disdain meant nothing to her. She existed to serve the family. “My lord, I believe you will find this ship to be quite comfortable. We have the most advanced suite of halo-rooms in the kingdom as well as an immense garden on the top deck. I will strive to make our time here as interesting a period as possible.”
Teramar: The Gathering Night Page 2