Horsemen United: Horsemen Origins Books 1-5

by Benjamin Hartman

  As the men drank the string music being played on the stage up front was soft and low. The bar filled with smoke from the cigarettes the miners smoked. Lee took a few puffs, and coughed from the harsh smoke as it constrained within his throat.

  The music came to a close and a white man took the stage. White men were few and far between on Ophridia, even moreso since Yiu Mei had shut down all trade and travel to the planet. The man wore commoners clothes, along with the insignia of the Coalition, a shield with a cluster of planets on the front.

  “Think he’ll start with how Yiu Mei kept us out of the Unification Wars to make us miners weak?” Bai asked the table.

  “Oh hell, I’d rather Yiu Mei kept us away from those desperate dogs,” Zao said. “We had no business bein’ in that war.”

  “He’ll also say that when the Core was too focused on the outer worlds during reconstruction, Yiu Mei closed off Ophridia, and seized the planet’s wealth for himself,” Deng said as he pointed at the Englishman.

  “Fuck that!” Zao hissed. “We have work to do, rice liquor to drink, what more do we need right Lee?” Zao asked.

  “Right. We just do our time, drink up and listen to the Brit’s fay hwa,” Lee said with a forced grin. He raised his drink in a mock toast and the others followed suit.

  The man fumbled with his papers and began to speak. “It is the dark times that try men’s souls…” he paused. Zao and Bai were whispering harshly in Mandarin, their words slithering like snakes from their lips. The englishman continued: “It is through leaden indifference that allows the rise of tyrants!”

  Bai threw his glass at the Brit. “Bee-jway! Your words are as worthless as Elephant shit! You don’t work in the mines you chu shie fook! The Tingchia will haul us away and beat us or worse if we look at them wrong!”

  “Bai, stay down! You’re going to draw the tingchia in!” Lee said in a harsh whisper.

  “The police should exist to protect! Not suppress,” the Brit said.

  “We’ve been paralyzed by fear for four years! We can manage a few more!” Bai screamed. The entire bar froze in silence and stared at Bai. His face was red from anger, and when he realized that all eyes were on him, he swallowed hard, but refused to back down.

  “You’ve had enough to drink,” Lee said. “The tingchia will come now for sure.” Lee grabbed Bai’s collar and escorted him through the back of the Eternal Dragon into the street.

  “Get your hands off of me!” Bai screamed. His eyes burned into Lee, his blood simmering below the surface.

  “Bai, it’s okay,” Lee said. “We’ll get through this.”

  “When?” Bai snapped. “We’ve been trapped here for four years! How will we get through this?”

  “Someone will come,” Lee said. “We serve here and soon we’ll be able to start a new life.”

  “Or die to the Emperor’s Xiongbu!” Bai snapped. He gasped when he heard the tingchia voices echo through the streets on their patrol. The two men turned and ran for their homes. Both of them dived through the door of their humble hovels while the tingchia continued on with their patrol.

  Lee slumped against the door of his hut granted to him by the Mining Council upon his arrival on Ophridia. He heard a rattle in the kitchen, but his mind eased as he watched his daughter Ju stumble into the main room clutching her doll.

  “Da-da!” Ju said as she approached her father. Lee scooped her up and his eyes met the brown gems that belonged to his wife in the doorway.

  “Ai Fen, how are you my tin-ren?” Lee asked as he kissed his wife.

  “Out drinking with the boys?,” Ai Fen asked playfully.

  “They only wanted one. I’m sorry,” Lee said as he looked to the floor. Ai Fen cupped his face in her hand and looked into his eyes.

  “It’s okay, just be back before curfew,” Ai Fen said as she went into the kitchen. “I made you your favorite sweetie. Even with the ration cards, I was able to mix up that soy chicken and rice you like so much.”

  “Great, thank you tin-ren,” Lee said.

  “When are you going to stop calling me that old mandarin nickname?”

  “When I get tired of using it.”

  “Oh! Ju, show daddy his tree,” Ai Fen said. Ju hopped off of her daddy’s lap, went over and pulled a small curtain aside. Inside was a small spiral-trunked tree that reached for the solar lamp that constantly shined on it. There were also a few herbs which were growing in the pots underneath the nourishing light.

  “Wow! Look at that! You’ve taken such good care of it Ju! I’m so proud of you!” Lee said as he held his daughter tight. She giggled in his arms while he blew a raspberry on her tummy.

  “She sure did! I’ll use some of this lemongrass for our dinner,” Ai Fen said as she took a sprig.

  Lee thought back to his home on Earth. He lived in a small house with a vast rice field behind and a tiny side garden that he loved to care for. He savored the smell of the soil, the warm sun and the sea of green that surrounded the countryside. Each breath was like a drink from a fine wine, luscious and full bodied.

  Then the Tingchia came. Crimson police soldiers who descended upon the valley, armed to the teeth. An arrangement between Mother China and her new Colony of Ophridia saw the exportation of millions of her children. Ophridia possessed untold wealth in coal and devoured China’s sons and daughters, creating the lore that Ophridia was the great snake which sought to devour all of her children. Initially there was an indenture work period, where if people labored long enough, they could buy their freedom. People of certain professions could buy themselves out faster, but that list grew shorter every year. Lee thought back as he watched the crimson soldiers descend, he let his gaze linger on the sea of green all around him since he had no idea when he’d see his fields again. At least Lee was able to keep his family close and remain with them.

  A knock erupted from the door. Men on the other side screamed in Mandarin and commanded Lee to open up. His entire body grew tense. He rose from the floor, but the pounding was incessant, urgent.

  Lee approached the door. He reached out and noticed that his hand couldn’t stop shaking. Before he could reach the knob, the door burst open and three Tingchia filed in. The lead soldier slammed the butt of his rifle into Lee’s stomach who collapsed to the floor. Ai Fen and Ju screamed out in terror. Ai Fen begged and pleaded with the soldiers in Mandarin, demanding to know why they were here.

  “Xing Ming Lee, you have been accused of conspiracy to commit treason against the Emperor Yiu Mei. You are under arrest,” one of the soldiers said.

  Ai Fen screamed at the soldiers and pleaded Lee’s innocence. The soldiers surrounded Lee and grabbed his arms. Ai Fen lurched forward and tried to pry the men off of her husband. The officer leading the squad drew his pistol and fired at Ai Fen.

  A red mist burst out of her chest, her face contorted in a mixture of surprise and fear. She collapsed, while Ju shrieked in terror.

  “Shut that baby up!” The officer screamed.

  “Ju! It’s okay! We’re just playing see?” Lee pleaded. Ju didn’t believe Lee’s lie and continued crying. “Ju please! It’s okay sweetheart, please stop crying!”

  “She’s going to wake the whole neighborhood,” the officer grumbled. He raised his pistol, shot Ju through her head and her doll flew out of her hands.

  “NO!” Lee wailed. He lunged against the soldiers and dove for the officer, unleashing a river of curses and insults in Mandarin. The soldiers pulled Lee back and struck him down with their clubs.

  “Chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo!” Lee cursed. He sobbed and wrestled against the soldiers so that he could hold his daughter one last time, but each time he escaped their grasp they struck him with one of their clubs. Lee became hysterical and broke the grip of the soldiers, but they struck him behind the knees where he fell and landed with Ju just outside of his reach. The soldiers grabbed his ankles and dragged him out of his house, while the officer kicked out the light that fed Lee’s plants.

  Lee w
atched the officer as he was being dragged away and chiseled every physical feature of his into memory. On the officer’s face there were three lines next to his right eye, four next to his left. He had a ridge halfway up his nose, an antique scar from being broken in the past. There was also a faint scar on the left side of his chin and Lee saw the final mark. The name tag on his jacket said “Quan Sito.” He looked around with an air of indifference, wiped his hands and continued his patrol while the Tingchia dragged Lee to the nearest station.

  At the station the Tingchia struck Lee with their clubs and tied him to a chair. Lee never knew what happened inside of the police stations, only that once someone was dragged in, they were never seen again.

  The soldiers threw ice water at Lee to get him to list off the names of other “conspirators” to feed to the Xiongbu.

  “Only one way out miner, and that’s to confess your crimes and co-conspirators. Besides, one of them ratted you out anyway. What’s the point in defending traitors? Confess and we’ll see to it you can get out of this alive,” the guard said. Lee knew better. As long as the police held him, he wouldn’t leave alive.

  Lee held his head low and mumbled something under his breath.

  “What’s that?” the policeman snapped as he rose from his chair and held his club up.

  Lee mumbled something again. The policeman waltzed up and brandished his club.

  “What’d you say?” He asked.

  “I’ll give you names. Come closer,” Lee whispered.

  The policeman leaned down, his ear right next to Lee when Lee lunged forward and bit as hard as he could at the man’s neck. The policeman howled in pain, while Lee felt his mouth fill with salty and grimy flesh before the iron blood flowed in. The policeman instinctively pulled away, the chunk of his flesh still in Lee’s mouth. The policeman grabbed his neck in horror, but he was too late. His jugular had been severed.

  The other policeman charged forward with their clubs. Lee jumped and kicked the policeman into the door, landed on his chair and shattered it into a thousand splinters. His hands were still bound behind his back but as the policeman came at him again, Lee spat the flesh into his face, and headbutted him which drove him to the ground.

  Lee pressed his boot onto the man’s throat as hard as he could. His arms flailed everywhere in a desperate bid for one last breath. He watched the man’s face glow red and his eyes bulge out. He pushed harder while the policeman clawed at his leg. The man gurgled and weeped until his flailing limbs ceased and collapsed to the floor.

  Lee grabbed a knife and cut the rope that bound his hands. He looted the pistols from both of the policemen, dived out into the street. Lee fell to his knees and sobbed, the reality of never being able to see Ai Fen and Ju again crashed into him like a tidal wave. What’s worse is he killed two of the Tingchia, an executable offense if he wasn’t already for the Xiongbu. Either way Lee was a dead man and he needed to escape.

  Voracious whispers of more Tingchia signaled they were on their way. He searched the city for an escape, but he knew there was nowhere within the capital he could hide given the prominence of cameras. The eyes of the Emperor were everywhere. Lee’s eyes fell on the mountains outside of the city. The mountains whose spires were hidden above the clouds, never seen by anyone.

  Lee knew the mountains were his only chance for survival. He ran through the streets, weaving and dodging the Tingchia patrols as they combed for traitors in their midst. He feared that some of them may have heard him, but his focus was on the mountains in the distance.

  Lee made for the gates that towered over the city. Their concrete faces were smeared with streaks of coal dust from the hands of miners who sought to leave their mark. The road snuggled between the gates was the only route in or out of the city. The gates opened for the behemoth-sized trucks that belched thick, black smoke. They lumbered in with their hundreds of tons of coal which strained even the industrial-crafted thrusters. The titanic vehicles passed through, and Lee made a sprint for the gate. After only fifty metres, the trucks passed through, and the gates closed.

  Lee watched in terror as his only chance to leave the city closed in front of his eyes. He saw something glide across his hand. It was a red dot of light, which flowed across his torso and came to rest on his chest. Two more just like it lit up and marked him.

  Lee turned and sprinted as fast as he could, the scorched dust singing the back of his neck. He could hear the Tingchia soldiers on the gates scream into their comms, feeding his position to the soldiers on the ground.

  Lee weaved through the shacks and the streets. He could hear the Tingchia screams echo as they searched for him across the city.

  A truck roared to Lee’s right as it bounced across the makeshift road. He had no choice but to attempt an escape, since remaining in the city would spell death. He could hear the truck’s engines roar as the driver gunned for the gates. As it bounced on the road, Lee swallowed hard. One savage bump and he’d be crushed.

  Lee ran for the truck, and dived for the dirt. He rolled right as the first axle cleared, grabbed ahold of the drive shaft and lifted himself as high as he could from the ground. The truck engines grumbled above him, while the drive shaft was covered in grease. His hands slicked and slurped against the metal which made him slide. If it wasn’t for his legs, Lee would’ve fallen off the truck immediately.

  Lee watched the world from beneath the truck as it sped along the outskirts of the city. There were no roads out here, only stray rocks which pockmarked the earth. He watched the towering walls of the city become a faint line along the horizon and when the world seemed quiet, he released his grip from the drive shaft.

  Lee’s back slammed against the ground which knocked the breath out of him. He searched out the mountain that rose into the clouds and ran for it. As he neared the base, he could hear the night shift miners striking with their pickaxes and carving at the rock with their laser cutters. He smelled the oily fuel of the coal mixed with the sulfur that ruled the air in Ophridia.

  He scratched at the mountain and began to climb. He climbed day and night, never stopping despite the cold, the hunger or thirst. He climbed for his very survival, as if the whips of the devil himself drove him up the mountain. He figured that at least in the mountains he could survive whereas in the city he wouldn’t have a prayer.

  The mountain proved an indomitable foe. The jagged face of the mountain sliced at Lee’s hands and he left hand prints of blood in his wake. The frigid air left his fingers numb, while the growing layers of snow made the mountain slick. For days he battled his way up the mountain, fighting numbness in the extremities. He ate the snow in a desperate bid for water, which only made him colder.

  On the third day, when Lee put his weight on a rock, it launched out, and sent him tumbling down the ledge. He skidded across a realm of razors, and stopped on a ledge that was only slightly wider than him. Waves of wind battered him on the side of the mountain, and the icy snow in his belly threatened to coax him into a sleep that he wouldn’t wake from.

  On the fourth day of climbing, Lee noticed that the clouds glowed. He saw a glimpse of the heavens, which spurred him onward. He knew he’d reached the cloud layers when he could hardly see in front of him, but as he rose above the clouds, he was aghast.

  Sunlight. It was only on the edge of the horizon, but it was here.

  The clouds on the ground were so thick that the sun could never pierce through. Above the clouds, weak orange rays radiated the landscape, as if the realm was in a constant dusk, always waiting for the next sunrise.

  Lee clawed at and dragged himself over a ledge. He looked around, but was nearly blind with the bright light surrounding him. As his eyes focused, a large temple came into view. He forced himself onto his feet, walked up the steps and threw himself at the front door.

  The door opened, and an old man gazed down at Lee.

  “Water...please…” Lee gasped as he stumbled onto the sloped steps.

  “You want water? Come in here,�
� the old man grumbled. He turned away and walked into the temple. Lee forced himself to his feet and placed one foot in front of the other and made his way up the steps for the temple. The cold wind howled as he tried to close the door. The door thundered in contempt of being shut while the lock squealed as Lee sealed himself inside.

  Lee turned and felt the warmth of the room on his skin. The old man tended to the coal fires, then pointed to a pitcher of water with a glass next to it. Lee’s hands shook as he grasped the pitcher, which clattered against the glass. He spilled the water into the glass without care and drank like a man who had thirsted for a hundred years.

  “Drink up friend. It is a long trek here,” The old man said.

  “Who are you?” Lee asked.

  “I house runaways like you who escape from Yiu Mei. What is your name?”

  “Xing Ming Lee. Yours?”

  “No name from me. If you’re captured and tortured, the Emperor learns my name. Call me the Hermit,” the old man said.

  “Fair enough. How long have you been up here?”

  “Since before the Xiongbu. I knew Yiu Mei was trouble when he was a Senator on Earth. I fled the moment he became Colonial Governor.”

  “I see. How do you survive up here?”

  “Solar cells. Long since abandoned when they notice the sun doesn’t touch the ground, but up here, they’re worth more than gold.”

  Lee looked out at the cloudscape. The sun’s light glimmered in the distance and created a carpet of gold and white as far as the eye could see.

  “Shame since we will never know midday. The sun only rises as high the eyeline, then holds there for a few hours until she sets, and night sweeps in once more. Scientists said it had to do with the position of the planet.”

  “I never thought I’d see the sun again,” Lee said. His mind wandered to when his family walked without a care through his garden. They loved the vibrant emerald green all around and the intricate ornate petals of a single flower. His time as a botanist was reflected in a vast greenhouse, which contained thousands of different species of plants, but his livelihood was snatched away from him through China’s aggressive expatriation program. All it took was the unlucky draw of the lottery where families were forced to uproot their lives and were shipped off to Ophridia.