INIQUITOUS DOMINION: The Galactic Classic

by Justin Conley

  He had Second Renaissance soothsayers bring the three families together and with the stroke of a pen, the patriarchs of the families sign Ichiamo's contract to come into Solaria and helped the Second Renaissance. In return, Ichiamo was baptized by having an operation done using Renaissance technology to improve his vocal cords so he could talk clearly. The scar and voice problems that plagued his life for a long time had become a memory.

  It was not the way Pisanio, Nero, or Timon envisioned it, but Ichiamo had finally taken over Solaria and with the sides at peace, it turned into a successful venture and the beginning of peace and tranquility in the ATM.

  SIX: SOLARIAN KIDS

  Once again, the black-skinned teenager Lucius Gaines was sleeping in his history class in Roostertown Chapter; somewhere between learning about ATM War I and ATM War II, warlord wars fought that ended in the establishment of Santos family power. The way he saw it, it gave him a chance to rest from the trying day he had with the past few classes he had. He figured since he had been reading the book, he would go back and get the notes.

  The teacher, Shawn Horatio, was boring to him. So he lied at his desk and dreamed of history. Lately, he painted a picture for himself on the history of the Santos family, his particular interpretation of events that occurred long before he was born.

  In dreaming of the Santos clan, he dreamed of space. Ever since he was a kid, he dreamed of flying underneath the stars. He wanted to be a pilot and he felt closer to that dream than he thought.

  But he had to pass secondary school. A part of him was not into school and could not wait to graduate. He was a popular student, but there was nothing more to it.

  When the bell rang, he responded right away. Before he could leave, Horatio called him to stay in class. Lucius stayed, despite what he was thinking.

  “You were sleeping in my class again,” Horatio said. “Is there someone in your dream that’s taking more of your time?”

  Lucius wanted so bad to tell him. Instead, he said, "I’m just tired. This is my last class and I had to deal with crazy classes before yours.”

  “That’s what lunch’s for,” Horatio said. “Next time you sleep, I’ll make sure you fail this class.”

  Lucius knew that he could past the class with flying colors. Still, Lucius gave the okay and was out of the door fast.

  It was the end of the day and he could not wait to go to his blitz-drift practice. He was the best in the sport. There was no one who could shake him once he had the ball in his hands.

  Before he did, he would see his friend, Juliet Barao, a cheerleader for the blitz-drift team. He would talk with her and then go ahead on to practice. He had a game for a place for the Valerian City Championship within a few days and if they had won, they could go on to face the best of the best in the planet.

  It was a rigorous practice, but Lucius was not faded by it. He had to be ready and he was going to make sure of that. He lived for the sport just like with life. If you wanted to be a pilot, he thought one had to face life and face it with all the heart and soul they could muster.

  He went to his typical home as usual. His parents asked him about school and he would say it was fine. Being the only child, he was given good privileges and was drawn upon as the best child any two parents could have.

  It was best to say that Lucius Gaines’ life seemed to have no flaws whatsoever. He had friends. He had dreams. There was nothing he could not or would not go after. And he had an universe going through changes just like his planet had thanks to Ichiamo Santos' New Plan policies.

  ****

  Two days later, the Valerian City Championship arrived. It was about to be the end of third month, which meant there were two months left before Lucius and his friends were graduating from secondary school.

  The players were on a silver field confined in a wide space. The cheerleaders had their own boxes where they could do their cheers until it was their time to shine in the spotlight. Lucius Gaines’ school, Roostertown Chapter, had their own personal stadium.

  The game of blitz-drift was simple. Each team had to get the ball and take it to the end of the field as the other team clipped or tackled them down to make sure they did not reach the field. Thanks to their armor and the use of controlled gravity through powered shoes, tackling made more of an impact on a particular player.

  Lucius was a wizard in the game, along with a best friend, a red-colored elfish teenager named Cassio Ramirez. They were the wild elements that could not be beat and they proved it time and time again. Lucius was more of a striker and Cassio a baller.

  Throughout the two quarters of the game, it was all about them. They figured going into the game that since they were seniors, they would end this season with a bang, win or lose. The cheerleaders were in their corner, building up more momentum. By the fourth quarter, they were trailing by four. There was only one chance. Cassio had to shoot for two since he was fouled. Everyone in Roostertown Chapter was bracing Cassio to score.

  Cassio hit the end zone. Loud cheers.

  Another run. Louder cheers.

  The clock was winding down. Lucius and Cassio had to play defense. So they did with all their power. Suddenly, Cassio made his move and took the ball from their opponents. Cassio threw the ball near the end zone and Lucius made a flip that made him turn slightly to evade a tackle.

  The Roostertown Chapter was on their way to the Solaria Blitz drift Championships, but that would not be until another day. For now, it was time to celebrate and what better place that in the streets of Roostertown.

  ****

  That night, Lucius went with his girlfriend Juliet; Cassio and one of his many dates; and a muscular brawler Alonso Fontaine and his girlfriend Hermia Rasetta out to downtown Roostertown.

  This was Lucius’ usual clique, being friends with them ever since they were kids.

  Lucius and Cassio had lived in the same neighborhood, which accounted for their long friendship.

  Juliet, a part of Solaria’s middle-class, had known Lucius since she was four. They had formed into a romantic couple, more out of rumor than actual romantic feelings. Still, the two cared about each other.

  All lived in the same neighborhood, since Roostertown was one great town where everyone knew everyone. A Solarian either lived near the vast Nican Desert or near the Volarius River. Roostertown had the fortune, or misfortune to some, to be near the Nican Desert.

  The Gaines and the Baraos were known all over Roostertown. While the Baraos had no problem when it came to coin because of their association with the Lysanders, the Gaines did what they could to survive. They knew that the only way to survive in Solaria was to make it rich. Their answer for income came with the Troyuvant drug craze 50's and 60's B.E. The Gaines family tried to get what they could and save it all before Solaria went bad again.

  The Gaines made have been known around their neighborhood, but Juliet’s family, the Baraos, were the talk of the town. Her descendants made a killing with their time with the Lysanders. Since then, the Baraos were respected and envied.

  Lucius had met gladiator player Alonso when he was ten, broken language and all. As the years went by, Alonso had improved and was able to speak like the best of them. He was the strongest and rowdiest of the three best friends while Lucius and Cassio was suave, slender, and quiet males.

  Alonso met Hermia when he started school. A raving yellow beauty, he also found out she had mixed Solarian red and yellow ancestry in her, which made their relationship clicked from the start. Both of them lived near the Volarius River; so it was one other thing they had in common and what cemented their relationship.

  All of them were inseparable. By the next month or so, the future was unknown. All they knew was they had to enjoy the time allotted for them.

  They did it by hitting their favorite club, Night and Day.

  When they went inside, the usual suspects were there. It was a special time, since the night was for the graduates of 73 B.E. Everyone separated to greet his or her friends and ass
ociates. It was pre-last dance without the fancy suits and dresses. For the time being, there was no talk about what would happen when they graduate. There would only be about what would happen that night.

  ****

  Roostertown Chapter held their senior dance near the end of 73 B.E., and it was made to be the best since the school’s foundation. It was held in the special Cassio Cabinet Center, the CCC, built in the early 60’s B.E. Of course, the special friends came and show off to their peers. Lucius and Juliet went as a couple, along with Alonso and Hermia. Cassio came alone and decided to find some females to hang with. Some people came with hugs and pats on the back. Lucius came in his special white tuxedo and Juliet came in her white dress while Alonso came in his light blue and Cassio, dark red.

  They stood out above the rest.

  The popular student, the handsome playboy, the muscle, and the beauty.

  There was one that did not give them some respect. He came their way as the five tried to find somewhere to sit. Lucius was the first to see him, a face of yellow with a trim body.

  “Chosen Toshio,” he said. “Hello, man!”

  Cassio extended his hand, but Chosen pushed it away.

  “You think you’re so slick,” Chosen said. “Even at this time, you’re trying your best to show off.”

  “What’s your problem?” Cassio asked. “We’re about to graduate and you’re still carrying beef with everyone? Grow up.”

  “You shut up before you never get the chance,” Chosen said angrily.

  Then, Alonso got up, bulging muscles and all and faced Chosen. “Leave them alone or—”

  “Or what?” Chosen finished. He stood confidently against Alonso’s muscles and he wanted to make sure Alonso's friends knew it, too.

  “We do not need this,” Lucius said. “Sit down, Alonso. Let it go.”

  “That’s right,” Chosen said. “Sit down before I sit you down.”

  Cassio and Hermia grabbed Alonso’s arm. When Cassio brought his hand down, Alonso sat down.

  “Lucius,” Chosen said in a bowing gesture, “you have a nice evening.”

  “So do you,” Lucius said and Chosen walked away. Cassio got his attention by hitting his hand.

  “What was that all about?” Cassio asked. "Why were you being so nice to him?”

  “He’s just a perfectionist," Lucius said. "He can’t help how he feels.”

  “What does that have to do with how he treats everyone?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m here to have fun and right now, I’m ready to dance. What do you say, Juliet?”

  “All you have to do is say the word,” Juliet said.

  A slow song played on and Lucius and Juliet made their way to the dance floor. Alonso and Hermia followed them. They found their spots and started moving slowly. The music felt good to all the students who were there, especially Lucius and Juliet.

  “So tell me something, Lucius,” Juliet said. “What are you going to do?”

  “Go to college, I guess,” Lucius said.

  “You guess?”

  “I mean I’ll be going to Constans University. And you’re going to Alexius University. Hopefully, we can find a way to be together. I still want that.”

  “I hope so as well.”

  “Just think. In a few weeks, we’re going to be graduates. And a whole new world’s going to open up for all of us.”

  “It’s the same world to me. You’ll still be here. I’ll be far away from the only world I know and love. You and Cassio are going to Constans University, so you’ll still have him to deal with.”

  “It still won’t be the same.”

  Juliet put her head on Lucius’s shoulder. Near them, dancing with another girl, Cassio danced for the song when it ended, left in a hurry.

  ****

  Meanwhile, Chosen Toshio went outside. He never liked engagements like this. He even left his date behind, not bothering to tell her where he was going.

  He wanted to be alone like he always had been. An overachiever, he was at the top of his class, smarter and on a higher level than most. However, he fell short in the popularity department. He was jealous of the likes of Lucius Gaines, also a bright student and had the popularity; or Cassio, the player all Solarian girls wanted to date.

  He took a walk, but the walk was short because he saw someone he knew. He was sitting on a ledge in a white suit and black pants, smoking a pipe coolly and quietly. He went to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

  “You got an extra, Iago?” Chosen asked.

  Iago Fenton glared at Chosen oddly, but he reached into his coat pocket and took out some brown cigarettes for him. Chosen took one. Then, Iago took out a match and lit it for him. Chosen took the invitation and the two sat on the ledge staring into the starry night.

  “This is nice, isn’t it?” Chosen asked.

  “Of course,” Iago said. “The night is always beautiful, especially with the mixture of the full moon and the stars.”

  Chosen admired Iago, the only person in the entire school he had respect for. Like Chosen, Iago Fenton was a loner, but it was more out of other aspects than choice. The quiet son of a doctor was a mystery to the school. It was the mystery that brought some fear in people, but also admiration and reverence. He said nothing unless he needed to. He did nothing unless it was necessary. He attended school and went home.

  The one thing that was not a secret was that his father was more connected to the Santos clan than anyone else. His father, Claudius Fenton, had been the Santos family doctor since Nero Santos’ rule, which meant his father had been absent for a majority of his life. The only way Iago knew his father was still alive was the money Claudius sent to his mother.

  It was only a few times Iago and Chosen ever talked to one another. Chosen was happy at that moment he talked with Iago.

  “So what are you going to do after secondary?” Chosen asked.

  “I don’t know,” Iago replied. “I didn’t expect to graduate. Well, one thing I know. I’m not going to college. I’m going to do some traveling.”

  “Where?”

  “Anywhere and everywhere. And you?”

  “College. Alexius University.”

  “Good school.”

  “I tell you I can’t wait to get my diploma so I don’t have to see these fools again.” ​

  Iago smirked. “Resentment?”

  “I hate all those students in there.”

  “Why?”

  “They think they’re better than me.”

  “No one’s better than you. And no one can beat you, either, except yourself. So don’t let them do it.”

  “Thanks for the encouragement.”

  ****

  Cassio came outside an hour later sweating profusely. He wiped some of it off his head and on the tux. He turned around to look at the stars.

  “What are you doing out here?” a voice said.

  Cassio turned to see Juliet before him.

  “What are you doing here?” Cassio asked. "Where’s Lucius?”​

  “Talking with some of his mates,” Juliet said. “I saw you come outside in a hurry. Are you okay?”

  “It’s nothing.”

  A pause.

  “No, I’m not alright,” Cassio said. “In fact, I’m a mess.”

  “Why? You’re about to graduate. You’re going to Constans. What's there to be messed up about?”

  Cassio tapped his head. “It’s just that… I don’t know. A lot of things. I’m just lucky to be accepted to a school like Constans. I mean, I’m a middle-class boy. Money got me into the school, not my smarts. I played around a lot and I joked, but inside, I’m destroyed.”

  “Why?”

  “I just wish I could have been better. I wish I could have been more than a joke. I wish I could have had more.”

  “Like?”

  “Like what your boyfriend has. Drive, ambition…"

  A pause.

  "And you.”

  Cassio walked to her until he was closer to
Juliet's face. “Most of all, he has you. There was a time when I wanted to make you mine. I can see why Lucius wanted you. I mean you have it all and I knew if it came down to it, I wouldn’t be able to compete.”

  Juliet was getting uneasy. “What are you saying, Cassio?”

  Cassio came as close to her face as she would allow, her face shinning gracefully at him.

  Cassio opened his mouth. “It’s just that… do you think if there was another time or another place, that…there was a chance…”