by Sky Corbelli
Chapter 59
Hobbies
“You see, we've been thinking too small. Not looking at the bigger picture, as it were,” the Chancellor continued vigorously. “You, of course, know what it's like to lose a loved one at the hands of those monsters. And yet we've always focused on trying to cripple their infrastructure. But I can see it clearly now: our enemy is more than just the people out there, wallowing in their filth on this miserable, backwater planet.” His eyes gleamed as he came a stop, resting a hand on the chair beside him. “Our enemy is the planet itself. The planet that raised up the Elements against us, the planet that cast us down, condemned us to this mockery of an existence a thousand years ago. And now, those thunder-struck fools are going to do our job for us. They're going to help us kill the planet.”
Ezra stared at the man in front of him, his sense of horror mounting with every word. Kill the planet? Well, certainly, dropping the space station into the upper atmosphere would wreak havoc on the Earth's ecosystem. Never mind the impact, which would be like a massive meteor and could easily trigger an ice age all it's own. Just the air compression of something that large would create an almost unbelievable amount of heat. It would sear away all life, turn the world into an oven. “But, sir, um,” he tried to phrase this as delicately as he could. “We live on the planet.”
The Chancellor chuckled. “You see? You're not thinking big enough. The Sanctuary shield, boy! It will protect us, only in earnest now. Certainly, it won't last forever, but we can finally give up on this world, free ourselves to explore the cosmos and colonize new worlds. Think of it! Our planet gave up on us; it's past time that we gave up on it.”
Ezra nodded slowly, watching the man across the table from him carefully. The Chancellor was clearly insane. In fact, Ezra considered, I seem to be running into far too many insane people recently. Is that a reflection on my own sanity?
“But of course, we're going to need your help.” The crazy man gazed off into the distance, his voice passionate. “Can I count on you, young man, to do what must be done? I know it's a terrible price to pay, all those people in the space station, but we cannot afford to tip our hand. In every war there are casualties, like your Miss Doe. We can bring this war to an end, finally, after a thousand years. We can stop the suffering. We can make those lives mean something. They will become martyrs for our cause, and spur the Legacy houses into a united front as we leap from our treacherous world to claim humanity's destiny. ” He looked at Ezra expectantly.
Ezra realized the Chancellor was waiting for an answer. He cleared his throat. “Well, sir... you know that I always have Sanctuary's best interests at heart.”
“I'm glad to hear you say that, son.” A smile split the old man's face. “We've already begun work on rockets that will catch the station and carry it through the atmosphere to impact somewhere safe. Even bring it down ourselves, if it comes to that. This is an exciting time to be alive.” He strode energetically to the door, then turned back to Ezra. “Are you ready to change the world, my boy?”
Ezra panicked for a moment. He needed more time, he had to think of something. “If you wouldn't mind, sir...” What would he believe? Think Ezra, think! His eyes flitted to the controller in the middle of the table, and he got an idea. “I just need a, uh, moment to myself. To mourn the loss of Miss Doe, sir.”
The grandfatherly look came back. “Of course, take all the time you need. We'll be right here, just outside the door, when you're ready.” He and his guards paced from the room, the door whispering shut behind them.
The instant they were gone, Ezra grabbed the controller and dialed home to his lab, frantically making a mental checklist of the things he would need. He hacked a connection, stole the power, and vanished from the little interrogation room.
==
“Where is it?” Ezra growled under his breath. He had torn his room apart, but the mission reports were no-where to be found. “I know I left them right here.” He kicked at the chair in frustration, bumping something on the far side.
A dim light shone, and a quiet voice brightly chirped, “Hi! I'm having the most amazing Founder's Day...” Ezra gasped as memories hit him like a truck. He carefully moved the chair and pulled up the holo-cam, his eyes coming to rest on Gal's elfin face flirting with the camera. A lump formed in his throat as he watched her whole performance.
He stayed that way for several minutes, then very gently removed the data card from the camera, tucking it safely into a pocket. He took a deep breath and shook his head, glancing around the room forlornly.
“–and let us know if you see him,” the Chancellor's voice sounded outside the room. Ezra froze. “We're very worried about his mental condition, after what he did to that poor Hughes girl.” He was getting closer!
“Of course, sir,” Kirsten O'Donnell's tone sent a warning shiver down Ezra's spine. She sounded like the perfect subordinate, competent and used to being trusted. Ezra's heart sank as he scanned the room for some place to hide. “I will keep my eyes open for Mr. Hawkins.”
Too late! The door to his room opened, and Kirsten stood there, looking poised, a vision of executive efficiency and style. The Chancellor's richly cultured voice flowed from a translucent display in front of her. “Of course you will, Miss O'Donnell.” His tone was that of a man just reminding himself of something he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt. “We all know what a dedicated and loyal worker you are.”
“Yes, sir,” Kirsten answered softly, brilliant emerald eyes fixed on Ezra. “Without dedication and loyalty, where would we be?” The call ended as the screen disappeared.
“So.” Ezra lifted his chin and tried to look as if he wasn't ready to wet himself. “This is how it ends.”
Kirsten's eyes flashed dangerously as she closed the gap between them and slapped Ezra across the face. He blinked away tears from the stinging impact, then turned to face his secretary just as she gathered him into a fierce hug. “I was so worried,” she whispered. “First the warrant, then you were gone without a trace, and everyone who might know where you were was gone. Now this business with Sarah Hughes.” She stepped back and looked him directly in the eyes. “Tell me where you've been,” she demanded, then produced the missing data sheet seemingly from thin air. “And explain to me what this thing that no-one can read or even begin to decrypt is.”
Ezra gulped. He was getting an awful lot of mixed messages here. Better stick with tragic hero. “I can't do that, Miss O'Donnell. You'll just have to turn me in, like your boss told you to.”
Ezra could almost feel the heat of her sudden anger. She shoved the data sheet into his stomach, staggering him, then punched him across the jaw, hard. His head spun as he fell to the floor. Kirsten began to curse as she shook her hand, bringing it to her mouth to delicately suck on one the knuckles. Still she trembled with fury, glaring down at Ezra. “Don't you ever imply that I would turn on this house,” she hissed at him.
“But I thought... the Chancellor...”
“Ezra,” she interrupted him curtly, taking a deep breath as she forced herself to calm down. “Let me tell you a little story. There was once a girl who fell in love with politics. Her parents were scientists; nothing special, just lab grunts, but they loved their little girl and did everything they could to support her. But one horrible day, there was an accident in their lab. Both of the girl's parents were killed, and she was left alone, an orphan. She knew the law. The Legacy house responsible for the lab would pay her a stipend, and she would become a ward of the city. Her family was gone, her dreams of politics were ended, her life was over.” Tears welled up, making Kirsten's eyes sparkle, beautiful and heart-wrenching. “Then the little girl was invited to the greatest Legacy house of them all. And the wonderful people there... they sat down with her and told her how sorry they were, how they wanted her to know that she wasn't alone. They asked her what she wanted, and she told them. The very next day she was transferred to the Special Division training program. Everything was paid for. The girl w
orked and worked until she was the very best.” Tears began to stream down her face, but she pressed on as if she didn't notice. “Then another horrible day arrived. The wonderful Legacy people died, and their only son was left alone. The girl requested to work with him. To help him. She knew what she was supposed to do, what she had been trained to do. Subvert the family, attach it to a house loyal to the Chancellor, and build the government's power base. But she never did that. She worked and she slaved and she did everything she could to help the boy grow into a man his wonderful parents would be proud of. She gave everything she had for the family that had given everything to her. That little girl would never betray them.”
Ezra was humbled by the passion of Kirsten's words, by the intensity behind them, giving him a glimpse into what made her who she was. Years of trying to groom him to be a man others would envy, to make the Hawkins Legacy the greatest there ever was or ever would be. And here he was, wanted by the Department of Ordinances, by the Chancellor himself, accused of horribly mutilating another human being, bringing shame and disgrace upon everything his parents had built.
“I'm so sorry,” he whispered. “Kirsten, I'm so sorry that I doubted you. I know that I'm not... what you wish I was. But I promise you, I am doing everything in my power to do what's right. Please believe me when I say that I can't tell you what that is right now. I swear upon the memory of my parents that one day I will explain everything to you, but right now I just don't have time.” He swallowed and looked down at the data sheet. “I need to find Mat, and I need to find Sarah, and we need to get somewhere safe. I wish I could tell you more.”
Kirsten studied his face for nearly a minute, then nodded and pulled up her net interface. “Mr. Matanane left a message for you. He said that he had been released with a clean bill of health and would be training, if you wanted to meet up with him.”
Ezra thought about what that meant for a moment, then asked, “What were his exact words?”
Kirsten deftly pulled up a screen. “'Dearest Kirsten, light of my life and fondest hope of my heart, I must apologize for my recent absence and hope to find you in–'”
Ezra cleared his throat. Stupid Mat. “You can skip that part, Miss O'Donnell. The part about training, though...”
Her lips quirked up slightly as she scanned the rest of the message. “Ah, here it is. 'I will be training in various and sundry locations, should you wish to join me.' That's all it says.”
Ezra nodded confidently. “Thank you, Kirsten. I... will be going away for a little while. You won't be able to reach me, but I hope that I'll be able to find some way of contacting you.” He called up a set of documents he had prepared for this occasion. He'd planned to give them to Mr. Blair, but now... “Until I return, I am naming you the caretaker of my family's Legacy.” Kirsten's gasped, eyes fixing on Ezra as he made the documents official. “You will have full access to everything, to be used at your sole discretion. In the event that I do not return, I trust you to see to the disposition of the family's assets and data banks. Please act as you see fit, Miss O'Donnell.”
“I... that...” Her eyes rounded with genuine fear. “Where will you... no, you're not telling me that. Damn you, Ezra James Hawkins.” She spun on a heel, pulled up a new terminal, and began entering data furiously. Pausing just outside the room, she turned her head, displaying a lovely profile. “Will that be all, Mr. Hawkins?”
Ezra gave her a sad little smile and nodded. The door slid closed, and Ezra went back to work.
