by A. J. Ross
“Denzel DiCaprio Washington,” he replied.
She checked a list in front of her. Lincoln held his breath.
“I don’t see your name on the list,” she said.
“Really?” he replied. “It should be there. I just left the . . . Edu-camp.”
She smiled, “Don’t worry. This happens sometimes. I’ll find you a room.”
The woman from the desk led Lincoln down a narrow hall, she pointed out things along the way. “This is the recreation center,” she said, pointing to a room with couches, and several young adults watching a projection inside of a black box. They looked up as Lincoln passed by.
“This is the cafeteria,” she said pointing to another room. There were also several young adults there, laughing and talking. She led him up the stairway and down another hall. She stopped in front of one of the doors and unlocked it. “This is your room,” she said.
She pushed the door open and she and Lincoln walked inside. It was a simple room with a bed in one corner, a table with two chairs in another, and a bathroom.
She handed Lincoln the key. “You’ll be here until a house opens up. It may be a couple of weeks. You can order whatever we have on the menu. I’ll bring you a few changes of clothes in a few minutes.”
Placing her hand on Lincoln’s arm, she said with a warm smile, “Things are going to be much better now. Trust me.”
Lincoln showered and put on clean clothes. He sat on the bed. Where am I? he asked himself. He had imagined Kayora was a place of torture, murder, starvation, and endless suffering everywhere. This place appeared to be the total opposite. Nothing but smiling faces since his arrival. What was the Edu-Camp? Never mind. He was there to find Braii. He reminded himself of his mission, and went back down to the Cafeteria.
There was a man standing over a grill cooking meat. As soon as Lincoln smelled the aroma his stomach began to ache with hunger. Approaching the chef, he placed an order for “Whatever everyone else was having.” He sat at a table by himself. He knew the others were looking at him, but he didn’t know if it was customary for him to approach them, or wait. On Graiis, a stranger must wait to be acknowledged, so he waited.
“Hey,” one of the men said. “Why don’t you come sit with us?”
“Sure,” Lincoln said. He went over to the table and sat. There were three others at the table and they all smiled at him. They seemed friendly enough. The man who invited him introduced himself, “I’m Wilson, this is Danya, and that’s Reub,” he said pointing to the others.
Lincoln nodded to each person as they were introduced. “I’m . . . Denzel,” he replied.
“It’s funny,” Reub said. “I don’t remember you from the Edu-Camp. I just got out three days ago myself. Which division were you in?”
Lincoln’s heart began to beat faster, but he kept his composure. “I was in the twelfth,” he replied confidently.
“Wow,” Reub replied, I didn’t even know there was a twelfth division. I thought there were only five.”
“No,” Lincoln contested. “There are only five regular divisions. The Sixth through twelfth are special unregistered divisions.” Lincoln winced at his own words, but when he looked at their faces, they all seemed impressed. They were buying it. He took a deep breath. He was surprised at how easily he was able to lie, and equally surprised at how easily they had accepted his lies.
“So,” he said casually. “What’s been going on? I’ve been in Edu-Camp, it seems forever . . .”
They all smiled with understanding, remembering how lost each of them were upon re-entering the city.
Wilson spoke, “Well I’ve only been here five days, but I’ve heard the planet might be going to war.”
“War,” he exclaimed. “Why?”
“I don’t know the full story,” Wilson continued, “but apparently Griicians kidnapped some people here and stole one of our ships.”
Lincoln’s mouth dropped. “What? That’s not what hap-.” He stopped himself. “I mean . . . that’s not what I heard.”
“What did you hear?” asked Danya.
Lincoln chose his words carefully. “I heard some people esc-, left this planet in a ship and went to Graiis.”
All three of them shook their heads in disagreement. “No,” Wilson said. “That’s just propaganda. The South hate the Kayorians, so they’re trying to start a war. They’re always trying to start a war because they hate our planet. They don’t appreciate everything Rahilius has done for them. He’s done more for the South than anyone ever has. People are more prosperous now than ever before, and Rahilius has provided everyone in the South an opportunity to work and take care of their families. Those people just don’t want to work. They don’t want the opportunities, they want Rahilius to take care of them. Rahilius is the best ruler we’ve ever had, and he wants everyone to be the best they can be. There’s room above ground for everyone who is willing to work hard to achieve it.”
“Were you born below ground?” Lincoln asked.
“Well no, not me. But I know of several people who started in the South and moved to the North. Anything is possible with the right motivation. The system might not be perfect, but it’s a lot worse on other planets. I’d rather be here than anywhere else. That’s why we have to fight against the South. They’re so busy trying to destroy our society, instead of trying to find a way to succeed in it. Even if I had been born below, I would still be here with you now. I would have worked my way up to the top.”
The others nodded in agreement.
Lincoln sat back in his chair. He was confused. Who were these people? He had come as an enemy of the Kayorians, and was under the impression all of the humans on that planet would also view the Kayorians as enemies. Instead, these people almost aggressively support Rahilius. He also found it strange they referred to the slavery of the majority as “opportunities to take care of and feed their families.”
Danya, seeing the troubled look on Lincoln’s face sought to comfort him, “I understand that some are born in a bad situation. I always try to help them whenever I can. My father taught us never to treat them badly, and I’ve never once said or done anything to disrespect them. At the same time, you can’t want more for others than they want for themselves. You know how they dress, their hair, and the way they talk to each other. It’s not completely their fault because some of them don’t know any better, but you understand how it makes others uncomfortable. Some of their suffering may be undeserved, but a lot of it they bring on themselves.”
After listening to Danya, Lincoln started to see the picture clearly. This must be some sort of “picked” class. Of course they would support Rahilius and the discrimination against the slaves in the South, because the discrimination was slanted in their favor. It actually benefited them. If there was a choice between Rahilius taking care of them, or taking care of no one, of course they would choose themselves. This meant closing their ears to the cries of their brothers below and trying with all of their delusionality to justify it. They now stood from their place of privilege to judge those without. Of course they would fight to preserve this injustice. Being chosen by Rahilius to live above ground was probably the only significance that could be attributed to their lives. Lincoln could tell by the emptiness of their words and the constant contradictory ideas that they knew very little about anything outside of their small town.
Again, he chose his words carefully, “You said the Grii kidnapped people from Kayora. Why would they do that? Don’t they already have their own people?”
Reub answered, “It’s because they were planning to betray Rahilius. They kidnapped people so they could torture them for information about Rahilius’s army. We have the strongest army in the Galaxy.”
Lincoln almost rolled his eyes, but was able to stop himself. Again with the delusions. He smiled. “Absolutely. The best army in the galaxy,” he said. “So what did Rahilius do?”
Reuben answered again, “He went to Graiis and rescued them.”
“He
brought them back?” Lincoln asked.
They all nodded.
“Did he bring anyone else back?”
They all looked at him with puzzled faces. He started to feel a little nervous. He knew he would rouse their suspicions if he asked too many questions. “I mean,” he said quickly, “On my way here I saw a couple of strange people, and I was just wondering . . .”
They were all dismissive of his question after he explained himself. He decided he had gotten enough information for now. He would try again tomorrow, not wanting them to start having doubts about his identity. For the moment they all seemed to trust him.
After dinner he went into the room and lay in his bed. He held the Fiie in his hand examining the symbol carved into the handle. He missed home. When he had imagined his trip to Kayora, it was a short and sweet rescue mission. One where he found his wife quickly, killed Rahilius, and returned to Graiis in a matter of days. After Braii was safe, he planned to join the Fiie army and fight. Now it seemed things would be much more difficult than anticipated.
He felt a tingle in his wrist. It was a vibration from his bracelet. He turned it over so the mechanics were facing upward, and turned it on. A Holographic image projected from the bracelet. It was Logan. Lincoln smiled from ear to ear. He was happy to see a familiar face.
“Wolfe-man,” Logan said.
Lincoln touched his finger to his lips, gesturing for Logan to lower his voice. He whispered, “Guess where I am?”
Logan replied, “Shang told me you landed. So, what’s it like over there?”
Lincoln shrugged. “Man I don’t really know. I’m using Wash’s name.”
The two laughed quietly. “Of all the names you could have chosen,” Logan said.
“I know. It just . . . came out. So what’s happening on the home front?”
“That's actually why I called,” he said. “I can’t talk long, I have a meeting in a few minutes, but I just wanted to give you the good news.”
“What is it?”
“We found Penny. She’s in a hospital nearby. They wouldn’t let us see her, but Mr. Arthur is going to get legal authorization to visit her. Whoever brought her in said she was in danger, so they won’t accept any visitors. But like I said, Raymond is working around that, and soon we’ll be able to verify whether she’s okay.” He smiled, “I just wanted to tell you about that. Now you have one less thing to worry about.”
Lincoln forced a smile, but his heart was a raging fire. “Thanks a lot,” he said.
“No problem,” he replied with a smile. “Take care Wolfe, we’ll see you when you get back.”
Erwin came to the weapons facility. Pyotr had found an old man who agreed to allow Erwin to go and work in his place. The man’s job was to clean shields, which was perfect, as it would allow Erwin to move through the facility fairly easily. They had created a story about Erwin being the grandson of the man, abandoning his work as a gardener for the day to secure food for his aging grandfather. Of course their plan depended on the apathy of the Kayorian guard on duty. Much to their advantage, this was a common problem.
The guard accepted his story, and allowed him to enter the building. Braii had insisted he take her Fiie along, but he refused for fear of being searched. She had argued with him furiously on the subject, but he stayed firm in his decision. The old man said there were random checks, sometimes on the way in, and sometimes on the way out. He would rather risk his own life, than risk exposing that they knew the whereabouts of, and were hiding the princess of Graiis. Though she hadn’t moved him from his course, she had moved him in other ways.
He found her opposition endearing. She was bossy when she was right, mean when she was afraid, and too prideful to admit when she was confused. On the other hand, she was capable, fierce, extremely intelligent, and loyal. Too loyal. The kiss he had seen as progress between them, she seemed determined to ignore, as if it had never happened. He knew she had someone on Graiis, but he figured if this ‘someone’ really loved her, he would have come for her by now. She had been taken several months ago, and no one had come for her. Erwin felt she should let go of her life on Graiis, but he knew he couldn’t force her.
Having feelings for someone was difficult for him. Whenever he tried, he would think about his wife. She had died several years ago. He watched her suffer as thousands of tiny worms devoured her muscular tissue. They hadn’t been able to bring her to the “good” hospital, because Northern doctors won’t treat people from the South. The hospitals below ground didn’t have the expensive medicine needed to kill the worms. She was going to die. Everyone who got the worms eventually died.
He spent a month searching for a way to save her life. By then the worms had tripled in number, literally eating her alive. She was so frail, and the smell was horrific. Following the doctor's recommendation, he had taken a pillow one night, and placed it over her face. He held it as tightly as he could for several minutes. When he pulled it away, her eyes stared into nowhere, and she wasn’t breathing. The doctor and two of his friends came to wrap her up, take her body out, and burn it.
For many nights after, he would cover his own face with a pillow trying to understand the agony of suffocating. He reasoned with himself - he was only ending her suffering, hoping she understood why he’d killed her. The doctor said the worms had reached her brain, so she wouldn't have felt any pain. They hadn't even been married four years before she was gone.
He mourned her for several years, but at the behest of the priest, tried to move on. He tried to date, but his mind would play cruel games. Sometimes he thought he’d see worms moving beneath the surface of a potential love interests’ skin. It made him feel sick to his stomach, and he could not be intimate. Eventually he gave up on the idea of romance, and instead focused all of his attention on leading the rebellion against the Kayorian Empire.
Erwin watched a guard approaching the facility. He was at least five meters away when the metal doors began to open. Erwin counted a full six seconds before the door was slid completely open, so he reasoned it would take another five for it to close. Whoever was inside must have seen the guard coming.
He approached the building, and the gate remained closed. He was asked through a speaker device to identify himself. He fed the guard the agreed upon story about working in place of his grandfather, and the sliding door was opened.
The first thing he noticed when he stepped inside was the lack workers, and those he did see were old. He would have to keep this in mind when planning how to invade the facility. An elderly man led him to a room with hundreds of dirty shields, and pointed out to him a room nearby with sinks, buckets, soap, towels, brushes, and wax. He was to spend the day scrubbing dried entrails.
He set up his work space. Taking several shields down from their hooks on the wall, he made several baskets of soapy water. Quickly and carelessly he cleaned several shields, making a mess of splashed water all over the floor. Once he decided the room looked scattered enough, he ventured out. If anyone asked why he was out, he’d say he was searching for a mop to clean the water he had spilled.
As he walked through the facility, he was amazed by how expensive and well-kept everything was. The humans lived in abject squalor below, while Kayorian practically built shrines for their weapons. Each weapon was cleaned daily, and had its own place on the walls. There were swords and knives. Bo staves with knives or blades on the ends. There were arrow and projectile launchers, crossbows, and double-headed axes. They looked like old designs, but made with modern materials. Every weapon sparkled and shined as if it were brand new. He counted twelve Kayorians guards in the building. From what the old man told him, this was the usual number.
He thought about the weapons they had accumulated below ground. Braii was right. They couldn’t fight with gardening tools. The Kayorians would slaughter them. The best solution was to find a way to cooperate with the Fiie army. They were far outnumbered by the Kayorian general population, even if every soldier in their army was away. And th
en what would they do? Wage war on the remaining civilian population? They needed a new plan, and fast.
TWELVE
Making Deals
Lincoln could hardly sleep. The council knew where Penny was, which meant her boyfriend also knew. There was no doubt Raymond would get the necessary clearance to see her and speak to the doctors. Soon the council would know for sure Penny was pregnant, and that it was Lincoln who had kept her hidden. Once they knew who, they would start searching for the why.
He was guilty. He would have to face a trial and answer to the council for keeping the information hidden although he knew they were searching for her. His relationship with Logan would be damaged because of his lies, and he would have to work hard to repair it. His only comfort was the fact that Raymond saw all of his actions as juvenile anyway, so he probably wouldn’t hold it against him.
The biggest problem was his promise to Tsamiit . . .
Before his training, Lincoln had requested to see Grisian. He had thought all night about Tsamiit’s request, and Penny’s unborn baby. For some reason, Tsamiit wanted a female child. Penny was braindead in a hospital and pregnant with a girl. Lincoln wasn’t harsh enough to call it luck, but sensible enough to call it fate. All of the events of that night had led him straight to Penny’s house where he had found her on the verge of death. If he hadn’t gone over to her house, Penny would have died, and her baby. He knew he could not guarantee Tsamiit the child that would belong to Braii, because she would never agree to it. Worse yet, she might leave him.
The only way he would be free from his promise was if she had only male children, and what were the chances of that happening? Griician females could change the sex of their babies during gestation, but for humanity it was a toss-up, and the chances of either were always going to be fifty-fifty. Anyway, he had made a decision.