The Emperor's Daughter (Sentinel Series Book 1)

by Richard Flunker

  When he opened the door though, he knew something was off. There were voices in the house. He panicked for a brief moment, wondering if someone had broken into the apartment, but just as quickly calmed down when he recognized his father’s voice. He was speaking to someone though. Gheno went inside quietly and closed the door behind him as quietly as possible. If Oganno had other researchers here, Gheno always enjoyed listening to their talks.

  He went around the hallway, towards the direction of the voices. There was another man talking with his father, but he couldn’t quite make it out yet. He didn’t want to be seen just yet. If they were talking about anything secret, he would want to hear about it before he was told to leave.

  As he approached the main living room where his father and the man were talking, Gheno dropped his pack into his bedroom, tucking it behind the door, then walked slowly towards the edge of the hallway. He leaned against the wall and listened.

  “You can’t be serious Oganno. This is quite the request,” said the unknown man.

  “You know I am. I need this and he needs this,” his father said, “He needs more than this.”

  Gheno’s heart sank. This was no secret research meeting. This was no meeting at all. Instead, they were talking about him.

  “You know what I do Oganno,” again, the other man, “Where I go, that’s no place for a kid. He’d need to pull his weight more than I think he can. Bad idea.”

  “You would be surprised. I think he will do just fine. Besides, you do owe me this one.”

  “Agh,” the man groaned loudly, clearly in disagreement.

  “You have to do this, he doesn’t belong here anymore,” Oganno said.

  Gheno was hurt. Was his father trying to get rid of him? Why was he doing this? Gheno was torn. He peeked around the wall and in that instant his eyes connected with the stranger.

  “That him?” he asked.

  Oganno turned around, his head dropping slightly when he saw Gheno. He motioned him to come out. Gheno walked out, and it was then that he saw the woman seated in one of the other chairs. She had longer, straight black hair. She was young, with an air of confidence to her that Gheno couldn’t explain. He liked her immediately.

  “Dad, what’s going on?” he asked, standing behind a couch.

  “Have a seat,” his father ordered, pointing at the couch.

  Gheno jumped over the back and sat down.

  “How much did you hear?” he asked his son.

  “Enough. Is it time for me to go?” he asked plainly.

  “You knew this time was coming. Besides, it’s only a matter of time with the Academy. You can’t hide your hacking forever,” Oganno said that with disdain, but it was difficult to conceal the pride in his face.

  “So I'm off with this guy,” Gheno waved his hand at the man.

  “This guy is a son of mine, just like you are,” Oganno started.

  Gheno stood up quickly.

  “I'm no son of yours!” he shouted. He quickly looked at the man and woman, gauging their reaction. The woman was shocked but the man just smiled.

  “Oh stop, how many times have you used that line?” Oganno asked, clearly not bothered by the seemingly hurtful comment.

  “Seventy seven times,” Gheno sat back down, “this past year.”

  “See, a jokester, just like you,” Oganno pointed out, “Neither of you got that from me.”

  “Yeah, I’ve used that line before too,” the man replied.

  Gheno looked at the man. This time the confusion was on his own face.

  “So you're…” he began.

  “Yeah kid. I'm one of Oganno’s rescue projects,” said the man.

  “Pshaa, you rescued yourself Kale. I just gave you a bed and food,” Oganno paced back towards the rear of the room, headed towards a large cabinet.

  “I think it was a bit more than just that,” Kale smiled. He reached his hand out to Gheno. The teenager took it and shook.

  “My name is Kale. I'm a merchant, most of the time. Have a ship our father wants me to take you on,” Kale said, “And this young lady over here is my, uh, associate, Ayia.”

  Ayia smiled and waved, then looked at Kale, “Associate?”

  “Yeah, that one didn’t come out right. Not sure what you are yet, we’re still working on that,” he quickly corrected.

  Ayia rolled her eyes, then looked at Kale and Gheno. Both were standing next to each other, and she attempted to find a familiar resemblance.

  “So you two are brothers?” she asked.

  “No, not like that,” Kale started.

  “They are not related, and I am not their father,” Oganno returned with a bottle with an orange liquid inside and some glass cups, “I just have this habit of finding strays that turn up at my front step and I keep taking them in.”

  “There are more?” Kale asked.

  “There are?” Gheno chimed in.

  “There have been a few, but not in a long time, and I do believe you are my last. I don’t have the energy for raising children anymore.” Oganno began pouring drinks.

  Gheno didn’t have much to pack. A few assorted changes of clothes, two books he had already read a thousand times each. But he liked them for their historical value and they were books written on paper. He also had his personal logbook. He always preferred having his own journal, and nothing that was uploaded anywhere. It was difficult if he forgot to bring it with him, but he liked the thought of all ideas not being available to anyone else. He guarded his thoughts and his privacy very carefully.

  Everything else could be uploaded to the Midnight Oil. All of his favorite virtuavids, books, music, pictures, all of these could easily be transferred to the ships data storage. He transferred many of his favorite games, having always heard of the boredom on board ships during jump times. He also transferred a lot of the programs he wrote himself, but made sure to hide them within his own files. Two in particular, he had concerns over: a personal AI he was developing and an organic simulator. Either or both could be found as unethical or even illegal on some planets. It was better if no one else knew.

  That evening, Gheno heard for the first time the events on Mondla and those that followed. Kale and Ayia remained in orbit for three days, attempting to reach her father, even though the odds of his survival were almost none. The rebels had overrun the city and the planet had fallen mostly under their control. Antan was a war zone. The biggest piece of news they had discovered was the source of the towers destruction. Two of the five Sec-Units, the mercenary groups hired by the corporation to defend the city, had actually been bought off by the rebels. One of these units, having already been on the planet for weeks, had set off massive explosives at the base of the tower, bringing it down onto the city. Seventy thousand tons of metal, concrete and plastics had carved out a ten mile long path of destruction where it fell in the city. The loss in human life was still uncalculated.

  The betrayal was especially painful to Ayia, even if deep down she understood the complexities of the politics of warfare. There wasn’t even any single person she could blame for the betrayal as the Sec-Units were corporations unto themselves. Still, if she harbored any resentment towards the corporations before, that night as they ate, she made it clear that her part with them was long over.

  Ayia had no family to turn to. She would be legally entitled to her father's wealth, whatever that may be. It would probably take a better part of a year to get that all sorted. They spent nearly a week on Olympus City on Mars trying to find the best lawyers possible who were also willing to be paid when the wealth was transferred. News of the disaster on Mondla had reached Mars and everyone was eager to have a piece of the wealth she would inherit. It took all week and nearly thirty lawyers until she settled on one group she thought would get the job done. She was though, penniless until that happened. She was therefore, paying for her way with Kale based on future money. Kale didn’t seem to mind.

  Gheno heard Kale's stories, of studying events on planets to see if there w
ere opportunities to make money. Most of his ventures came from simply selling goods that were desperately needed somewhere: medicines on a disease stricken planet, weapons on a planet with warfare, or the latest virtuavids of Earth teen sensation Baleen Rivers on a rich planet. The more he heard, the more Gheno could see that this was truly a great opportunity for him. He would get the chance to visit planets in all systems, Dominion, Commonwealth, and everything in between.

  On his part, Oganno set aside Kale's doubts the boy would be more help than hindrance. He went into great details explaining how the young boy managed to trick a prestigious school into believing he was being sponsored by an Earth corporation that didn’t even exist. While he explained, Kale logged onto the net to check this phantom company. He managed to pull up financial records dating back nearly two hundred years.

  "Ok," he said, "I’m impressed. Maybe you can pull your own weight."

  "In space, there is no weight," Gheno countered.

  Kale's eyes closed slightly.

  "Smartass."

  Oganno laughed. "Just like you Kale. Just like you."

  3124 – Devil’s Den, Alioth System, GorpSpace Ex Research facility

  While Alioth was considered to be the shipyard system, there wasn’t just one large shipyard orbiting Alioth Central, the main livable planet in the system. Some of the larger builders certainly had some very large shipyards there. Most of the factories were smaller though and a great deal of them were located not on Central but on Devil’s Den, the second planet from the star. The smaller planet had no atmosphere that humans would enjoy but it was very rich with natural resources. It was also a very different kind of planet. Devil’s Den was actually larger than Central, about the same size as Earth. It was, however, far less dense and therefore had much less gravity. Nearly all of the shipyards were actually on the planet, as opposed to hovering in orbit. This was true namely because moving even the largest of ships off the planet and into space required a great deal of energy. Conversely, building the ships on the ground was cheaper. Corporations loved cheaper options.

  The hot planet was pocketed with living domes and factories. Much of the work conducted there was performed by machines, some of which were automated. Many of them worked remotely. Devil’s Den was also home to many research stations that studied its own peculiar gravitational energy.

  It was the Midnight Oil’s next destination.

  Kale had yet to really be completely sold on taking a young man, a boy, with him on his trips. He had several arguments with Oganno that night, typical arguments between a father and son. These were the kind of arguments in which the son fights knowing that the father is still going to do whatever he wants to do. Gheno tried to hear everything from his room as he packed and uploaded his work to the Midnight Oil. He wanted to know for sure just what kind of character Kale would be. He wasn’t sure he was going to enjoy being with him as much as he’d enjoy just being out there.

  Oganno sweetened the pot though. He offered to pay for the Midnight Oil to have its maintenance done on his company’s shipyard, located on Devil’s Den. When he mentioned that Kale became quiet. Simple maintenance on a spaceship was already a difficult and expensive prospect. A full inspection and overhaul of necessary equipment was generally unheard of for independent captains.

  “You’re just buying me off now,” Kale grumbled.

  “Is it working?” Oganno asked.

  “I never liked dealing with you.”

  “That’s because I’m smarter than you, son,” Oganno countered.

  “I disagree with that.”

  “And that is also why I’m smarter than you,” Oganno had all the answers.

  Kale knew when he was defeated. He knew even before starting the argument.

  “Can you at least install some guns on the ship?” he asked, “Mine were taken from me.”

  Oganno nodded. He owned a research company that examined advancements in exploration and navigation, not weapons. He would have to find his weapons somewhere else.

  Gheno boarded the ship two days later. He removed himself and his ID from the school, hopefully having left no trace that he had ever been there. Then he and Oganno, who would accompany them to Devil’s Den, took the ever busy transport to Orto Prime Space Station. Alioth Central had initially been a very loosely settled planet. It was ninety-three percent ocean and did not hold much promise. With the discovery of Devil’s Den, a population boom occurred on the planet. Its value was made greater by the discovery of a fish species found in the ocean. This species provided a bounty of food for this and other nearby systems. The oils and minerals derived from the fish also had multiple medicinal qualities. This newfound food and medicine source had brought many companies to the planet. They in turn, began building living and working platforms on the ocean. Within one hundred years Alioth Central transformed itself from a sparsely populated planet into the busiest, and most inhabited, location furthest away from Earth. This transformation allowed the planet to wield considerable power many centuries afterwards and become one of the players in the galaxy’s politics.

  The planet, however, had neither its own capital nor a thriving city. There were no continents, just islands and manmade platforms scattered throughout the planet’s waterbeds. These platforms were interconnected all the way around the globe forming a ring at its equator. This ring was connected by several transport trains that ran back and forth carrying passengers and supplies. The largest of the natural islands was the location of the space station. Nearly every train ended up there as it was the main point of departure off the planet.

  As the main hub it was also extremely busy.

  Gheno and Oganno were able to avoid a great deal of traffic and people as they arrived at Orto Prime Station. The station was the largest of its kind constructed by man, larger than any of the other stations, even those on Earth and Coran. The post filled a nearly thirty-five mile radius, with multiple landing pads directly on the ground for the largest of transport vessels. Five towers located in the eastern section of the station contained nearly three hundred hangars for smaller ships like the Midnight Oil. The station had over fifty slave tractors to move ships in and out of the fly zone. At the very middle was a sprawling tower which controlled the movement of ships that were under a tractor’s guiding force. In the middle were several terminals that housed all passenger ships. This was the busiest part of the station. All trains docked there and a canal out to the ocean allowed water transport directly from the station, as needed.

  The doors slid open when their transport docked at train station A3. Gheno was nearly run over as people exited and almost pushed back on board as passengers entered. He struggled past a few people, dragging his bag behind himself. He was then completely surprised to see that Oganno had already left the train. The crowd noise was deafening but the old man just stood there, smiling. He enjoyed watching Gheno struggle. They walked through a continuous mass of people until they were able to get out of the main traverse lane and exit to the outside. There, they took a smaller train known as a pod which shuttled them out to the hangars.

  From a distance, the five hangar towers looked like an active beehive. Small ships appeared to be hovering in and out of the hangar entrances from the top to the bottom of the towers. The traffic was completely controlled by slave tractors pulling ships into hangars and consequently pulling them out of hangars, clearing the tower where they would fly off on their own accord. There was a natural, undulating feel to all of the controlled commotion. All that was missing was the buzzing of bees.

  The hangars were, thankfully, far less busy than the main terminals. Gheno and Oganno got out of their pods at Tower Four; the Midnight Oil was docked in hangar 4-tb. Gheno took his only bag out and slung it over his shoulder. He looked up and was almost blinded by the sun as he observed the top of the tower, high above him. He turned back down, squinting in pain, slightly blinded. He focused on a man who was shaking hands with Oganno near one of the elevators. The man then handed
Oganno a stack of papers and pointed down to several cases next to him, then walked away. Oganno read over the papers and put them into his own handbag. He motioned Gheno over.

  “Grab these bags and carry them up with you, will you please?” he asked

  “What’s all this?” he asked, testing the weight of the cases by gently picking them up by their handles.

  “Nothing, just work-related materials,” he said, not even looking at Gheno.

  “This much?”

  “Once you leave with Kale I am going to remain on Devil’s Den, probably a few months. Need to get work done.” He pressed a button on the wall and a display illuminated on the screen. Oganno typed in 4-tb. The screen went blank for a moment. It then illuminated with a small box slowly moving down the display.

  “Is this goodbye? Am I off for good?” Gheno finally confronted the old man.

  Oganno turned and faced the boy.

  “It’s never off for good. Kale still comes back all the time.”

  Oganno put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

  “You will make your own home somewhere but this, my home, will always be open to you,” he said, comfortingly.

  Gheno looked back toward the west at the main terminals. He looked as if he was seeing his home planet for the last time. In his mind he saw far beyond the station. He saw the academy and the countless students there. Some were friends but most were not. He saw the sandy shores of the beaches and the ocean he swam in many times. It was such a simple place to him. He knew that, somehow, if he returned here in the future he would see the planet in a very different way. He smiled at that thought, curious as to how that new view would be. Behind him, the door opened and the elevator became available. He turned, grabbed the crates, set them inside the elevator, and stepped in.

  The Midnight Oil was even more beautiful than he thought. The vast majority of space-bound ships were ungainly, designed efficiently to maximize the scope of its rooms and inhabitability, instead of aesthetics or aerodynamics. These ships didn’t need to fly through air and therefore didn’t have to look the part. The Midnight Oil, he immediately saw, had the lines, wings and curves to fly through air and that made the ship majestic. To fly through air a ship had to be designed like a bird, and there was something noble about a bird that simply couldn’t be found in a rectangular box.