The Emperor's Daughter (Sentinel Series Book 1)

by Richard Flunker

  As they lowered into the atmosphere, and the window transitioned slowly from black to blue, Kale began scanning the news messages on the planet. He had only been gone for over a week, and yet it seemed the civil war took a turn for the brutal. There were stories of mass killings, on both sides. In fact, Kale struggled to understand just who the two sides were, and began to see that there were possibly more than just two sides. Factions all over the planet were vying for control of the system, and the human cost was escalating out of control.

  Kale scanned the net for images but found a good deal of censorship. Most of the links were simply dead, but those he found were of outside Antan. They were not pretty. Entire towns were ravaged and the countryside was burning. He saw images of bodies littering a desert battlefield or floating down a red river. It was at these times that Kale felt guilt for trafficking in arms. But if he didn’t, someone else would.

  The tug finished its descent just over the city, and all locks were released. The Midnight Oil floated down into one of the open dock ports that had already been reserved for her by Ayia’s father. Kale stepped out of the cockpit and Ayia waited in the dining room. He gave FEI a few quick orders, then motioned Ayia towards the off-ramp. It began to lower and the hot steamy air of the planet rushed in to quickly replace the dry stale air inside the ship. Kale took a deep breath and enjoyed the moisture easing its way into his nostrils. He looked forward and Ayia was already exiting the ship and he rushed to join her.

  They stepped out onto the port. The Midnight Oil was locked onto the edge by large clamps. A small walkway extended out to the plank and out to a circular platform where Kale could already see a small group had formed. Ayia walked ahead of him. She was a dead man walking; a young beauty ready to receive her punishment. They both walked across the walkway onto the platform and Kale instantly recognized the CEO. He had strong face, one that shouted out leadership, command, power and wealth. He reminded him of the many paintings he had seen of Dominion nobles. He was not a Dominion human though. His hair was greying, maybe prematurely. He had a mustache, also grey and deep blue eyes. In his prime, he was probably a physically built and fit man, but the years made that a legacy. Behind him were seven armed guards, and behind them, twelve or thirteen other men and women, employees, servants, who knew. As they stepped onto the platform, Ayia came to a stop. The CEO came forward to meet them.

  Ayia took a step forward to meet him, but hesitated. The CEO never stopped, and walked steadily towards her. Kale half expected a beating, a slap to the face, or something else. He took a step back, not willing to get involved in family affairs. The man stopped a few feet from Ayia and looked straight at her. Ayia wanted to turn her gaze away from her father but kept her eyes directly on his. A moment passed as she continued to maintain her strength. She finally relented and dropped her gaze.

  “Father, I'm sorry,” she began.

  Before she could finish, the large man lunged out, grabbing her with his arms and pulled her in close. He hugged her. Ayia melted, losing herself in her father’s embrace. She threw her arms around his shoulders, and cried. He stepped back momentarily, smiled at her, and then touched the wound on her temple.

  “Souvenir?” he asked.

  She laughed, cried, or both. In that instant, all was forgotten.

  3124 – Mondla, Capitol city of Antan, in the corporate tower headquarters of Iytentia Exploration Corp, 4215 feet high.

  Kale had seen and been inside many amazing feats of engineering including huge space stations and capital ships as they orbited shipyards around Mars. But he never was comfortable around luxurious settings. As the party went shuttling up what was clearly the highest tower on the entire planet, he felt a keen sense of being completely out of place. He was in many elevators before, but this felt like a luxury suite, that just happened to be moving up to the top. The entire eastern half of the elevator was a window, allowing for a tremendous view out into the city of Antan while the other half of the room was a combination of drink bar, luxury couches, and a large display screen which appeared to have some kind of sporting event. It was something where overly large men ran around throwing a ball around to teammates before they were crushed by the opposing team. It was professional hot potato.

  The skyscraper was a misnomer, as they were beyond scraping the sky. Kale whistled as they passed through the clouds. At that point, they had only passed the mid-section of the tower.

  On the far side of the elevator, Ayia was retelling their escape story to her father and those who were either interested or at least pretended to be interested. Kale prepared an entire report with every last detail of the rescue while in threaded space, and yet he could see by the old man’s face that he was giving every word that came from her mouth complete attention. She blushed momentarily when his escape solution came up, and quickly pointed out that nothing happened. As that part of the story approached, Kale made it a point to be looking out of the window and pretended he hadn’t heard anything. He wasn’t quite sure he wanted to face any stares.

  “No wonder this thing has a bar,” he thought. The trip up to the top of the skyscraper took nearly twenty five minutes. As it got higher and higher, Kale could see the curvature of the planet. He had seen it many times from inside of his ship, but there was something surreal about being in a building and seeing it. He was standing there still enjoying the view when he felt his presence next to him.

  “I am assuming you have seen the payments made to your account?” he asked, a powerful voice, years of experience and wealth. Or so Kale assumed. He always envisioned a voice like that coming from someone as powerful. He wasn’t the owner of the corporation. Those were spread out among many planets. He was, though, the one that had full control and made every big decision regarding the corporation.

  “I have, as you promised,” Kale replied. There was an additional risk when the mission changed, but the man came through. Granted, it was probably a very small payment for one like him.

  “I will be more than happy to leave my personal recommendation on your rep list,” he added.

  The rep list was an interplanetary review board for people such as Kale, the jack of all trades of space. He relied on the word from paying patrons to ensure he kept getting jobs, regardless on which planet he was. He had some big names on there, but this one was certainly going to be worth a lot.

  “That is very kind sir, very valuable as you might know,” Kale turned to face the man.

  “Perhaps you would even consider being under full time employ for us?” He had to ask.

  Kale knew in an instant that this was an amazing offer. He was sure the pay would be fantastic. He also knew that it would bind him to someone, and that was something he would never do.

  “The offer is really fantastic, but I have too many jobs waiting elsewhere,” Kale said, stealing a glance beyond him to where Ayia was sitting, safe at home.

  The CEO of Iytenti, Lawrence Agusto, was a powerful man. He could probably have anything he wanted. He took over the chairmanship of the company nearly thirty years before and turned it into the dominant corporation providing resources to the Commonwealth and Dominion. It had initially been created as a small company providing the technology, manpower and resources for deep space exploration, but grew quickly. Positioned between the two sectors of space, the corporation grew very wealthy exploiting the rivalry between the two forces of Earth and Coran. The skyscraper that dominated Antan was built under his watch and was a symbol of his achievements. It was therefore very telling to see just how vulnerable he became when he had nearly lost his daughter.

  As Kale looked over to Ayia, Lawrence followed his gaze.

  “I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost her,” he said, lowering his head. He turned back out to face the window.

  Kale saw the look on his face and recognized it.

  “Men like us? Revenge, I think,” Kale had never forgotten, and never would.

  Lawrence heard Kale’s tone.

  “You
have lost?”

  Kale smiled, “We all have, in some way.” He walked away and towards the bar to pour himself a drink. They still had ten more minutes before they reached the top.

  Kale was treated to the most luxurious suite he had ever been in. He had to link back up the AI on the ship just to gloat.

  “You have to see this place FEI,” Kale ran over to one of the windows. There was a Provencian Dagger Flower in a vase of water on the sill. It was one of the rarest flowers in the universe as far as he was concerned, and it only lasted a day or two once cut. It had pitch black petals, smooth and soft, a darkness that appeared to absorb all light. It was incredibly expensive, and he was told they replace it every day, whether there was someone staying there or not.

  Still, Kale knew he couldn’t stay for too long.

  “FEI, do me a favor, begin scanning the boards, try to find anything that takes us back to Alioth,” he would have to return there to see if he could replace the guns that was removed from his ship. He certainly could afford it now. Taking a job would be an added benefit.

  Ayia came to get him that evening, after he soaked in one of the largest tubs, which he could only assume, was coated with gold, or made of it, he didn’t know. They provided him with some clothes that he had sheepishly asked the attendant how to dress in. They were made out of something silky, smooth, and very cool. He asked the attendant what it was.

  “Silk.”

  “Well, some things never change,” he thought, smiling as he ran his hand across his legs. He almost felt naked.

  He sat with her in the dining room floor that was at the very top of the tower, a room aptly called the moon suite. The entire roof was a glass dome, giving a view to the Ayethti stars. Kale ate the food, amazing plates with names he had never heard of. When he asked Ayia what one plate was, what appeared to be a white globular mix with a red sauce mixed in, she tried explaining how it was the combination of a rare ocean algae mixed with the meat of some animal found on some planet he had never heard. She started explaining how the beast was trapped with some kind of auditory trap, but Kale stopped listening when he tried it and wasn’t able to focus on anything else. He stopped himself from eating too quickly; he certainly didn’t want to appear uncivilized.

  The thought made him smile.

  “Chairman Agusto, that isn’t what we hear. What we do hear and are now beginning to see is that the two factions now in league have made bold strikes at our ports in Calyain and were even able to bring a halt to production at the Trabras mine. That is a mere one hundred miles from Antan,” a gentleman with obvious ocular implants and a white beard put his cup down as he spoke,

  That caught Kale’s attention. He turned to look at Ayia and could see the concern on her face.

  “The attack on the mine is worrisome, although not entirely unforeseen. It was expected that they would attack the mines, they are our sources of money,” replied the CEO.

  “But what is stopping them from mounting attacks on the city? We see the news. We can see the results of the battles and it looks good, but we also see the streams of refugees coming in. This city never had slums until a few months ago, and now the city is overrun.” That remark came from a woman in an oddly flashy yellow dress seated across from Ayia.

  “Our security forces are doing their job. We have already contracted with seven off world Sec-Units, two of which have already landed and have begun deploying heavy weaponry along the city periphery. These are veteran units that know what they are doing. Regardless of their numbers, these rebel factions don’t have the training, weapons or technology to defeat us.”

  “Yes, but eventually, they will overrun us. If more mines shut down, things will start looking desperate and shareholders will begin to call for meetings and the owners in their yachts will come crashing down on us if their gold isn’t being shipped in,” stated a younger looking man, dressed in a black vest over a skin tight red shirt.

  “This is all just a political move. If the mines shut down, then they have nothing, no livelihood. They rely on the mines for this planet to be wealthy. Their attempt to hamper us hinders them as well. No, their only desire is to cause enough damage to move us to the negotiating tables.”

  “Maybe it’s time we did open negotiations?” the voice came from next to Kale. Ayia was listening as well.

  Lawrence looked approvingly at his daughter.

  “That may be, but we need to be able to negotiate from a position of superiority. Once the last Sec-Units arrive, then we will have the upper hand without having to actually use force.”

  The same lady in the yellow dress chimed in, “I have been told by one of my servants, a young lady who has friends with some of the refugees, that the main rebel faction actually doesn’t care about the mines or the money. That they are some sort of eco-terrorists. They want the planet to revert to the way it was before the corporation arrived, before the mines.”

  “Just propaganda spread by the rebels. They are using these tactics to make us believe that they will do anything. But it all comes down to money,” reassured the CEO.

  Kale understood money. He had also seen the horror of eco-revertists before. These men and women gave their lives in fanatical attacks in an attempt to ‘revert’ the planet back to its natural state. Many corporate run planets eventually ran into that problem. Most planets were colonized in waves from Earth, just by people that wanted to get away from urban humanity, to farm a plot of their own. When corporations began to bring in their power, these simpler people was buried beneath the urban expansions. Many fought back.

  Kale had seen the face of this fanaticism. It was more than just an attack on a planet, but to these people it was an attack on their home. Most would do anything to defend their home from whoever they thought were invaders.

  Corporations usually had two options, ruthlessly eliminate all of them from a planet, or succumb to their endless raids and warfare. Neither option bode well in any case. Kale wasn’t sure what the real situation was here, but this cemented the desire to not linger too long on this planet. It was a powder keg waiting to blow.

  Kale was going to return to the Midnight Oil that night, but Ayia had requested his presence one last time. He met her in another suite that was set aside for her.

  “I heard that you would be leaving tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, I picked up a delivery for Alioth, need to get it there as soon as I can fly,” he replied. He was certain she already knew that.

  “I really wanted to thank you again for what you did,” she started.

  Kale interrupted. He was through this before, “you don’t have to thank me. Like I said, this is what I do.”

  She turned to him. She was dressed in plain clothes, and yet she looked far better than she ever had. She was back in her element. She was calm and safe.

  “No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, I want to thank you, not just for the rescue, but, you treated me like a person, on the way back.”

  Kale looked at her blankly; he turned his head to the side bit, keeping his eyes on her.

  “I'm not sure I understand? A person?” he tried to think of something funny to say, but was at a loss.

  “You opened up to me, even if just a little. You could have easily left me in that room on your ship until we got here. You didn’t, and you even cooked noodles for me.”

  That made him laugh.

  “You're thanking me for noodles?”

  “No, I'm thanking you…Oh, I'm not sure, maybe it was for the noodles,” she laughed.

  Kale shook his head.

  She took a deep breath.

  “Listen, I know my father has paid you, and I'm sure handsomely, but I’d like to offer payment of my own.”

  Kale took a step back. He wasn’t sure where this was going. She recognized the confused look on his face as he squinted a bit.

  “No. NO! No, my goodness, no. That’s not what I meant,” she stammered, “Oh my goodness, no, yeah, that came out all wrong.”

  �
��You know, I'm old enough to be your father,” he joked.

  “Not even close. No, you shared with me a little of your world on board your ship, I would like to share a bit of mine. I would like to take you out to some of my favorite spots in the city tonight, just show you my world, thank you before you are gone to the next one.”

  “The next world? You killing me?”

  She began to say no until she realized he was joking again.

  “Will you?” she asked.

  “It would be my pleasure.”

  Ayia clapped her hands and called for one of the attendants. She explained that they need a transport below in thirty minutes. She then asked Kale if he was ready and he was. He gestured towards the door and began following her.

  “Wait, you are paying right?”

  3124 – The Crooked Lights, Lower City, Antan, Capital of Mondla

  Once out of the tower, the city turned into something Kale was far more familiar with. While the capital was still a very modern and wealthy city, even she had bars, restaurants and dance halls. It was a staple of the common working man. He wanted to end his days with alcohol, food, the opposite sex and loud music.

  Kale was feeling the solar lag. Each planet had its own day length and unless you grew up in a certain planet, millennia of evolution made most space farers set their ship clocks to the comforting twenty four hour clock of Earth. On Mondla, there were twenty seven hours and thirteen minutes in a day, and they were already far past that. It was a small miracle that the entirety of mankind’s populated space wasn’t a mess of people taking naps at the most inappropriate times. Kale was starting to think he needed one.