by Seven Steps
“You’ll be alright, and I promise that I will help Baleen, but you have to do something for me. Tell me where Mahala is. My slave has run away there, and I need to see him.”
“Mahala is a myth.”
“Mahala is real, or at least Lex thinks so. He’s on his way there now. I have to find him.”
“Why?” the man wheezed.
Eva took a deep breath. “He’s the only one who makes me feel warm inside, and I’m not ready to let that go yet. He told me to find him in Mahala. Please tell me where it is.”
A physician craft appeared over the trees. Its sirens quieted.
“Listen closely,” he said. “Go through the forest. Follow the edge of the dome east, to where Alpha and Beta meet. Make sure that you aren’t followed. If you meet anyone odd, anyone at all, say the words, ‘The sun will find me’. Can you remember that?”
A blonde physician, dressed in a light blue jumpsuit, jumped from the hovercraft before it touched the ground.
“What happened here?” she screamed as she ran over.
“He’s been shot,” Eva replied.
She looked him over. “He’s bleeding out!” She fell to her knees, began cutting off his clothes. “I need help over here.”
A dark haired man jumped from the craft, a utility belt of glowing tools on his hip.
“Give us some room,” the blond shouted.
Eva took one last look at the man, then sprinted to her hovercraft.
“Hey, where are you going?” the blonde woman called.
Eva didn’t stop, didn’t turn around as she climbed into her hovercraft.
A second set of sirens screamed overhead as Eva tried to start the ship. It wouldn't budge. The wheel was in full lock mode, her picture flashed on the front screen, with the word WANTED beneath it.
Ahead of her, two Enforcers climbed out of their hovercraft, stared her down.
“You there!” One of the Enforcers cried. “Stop!” They ran at full speed towards her, surprisingly quick for such large women.
Eva hurled herself from the craft, her feet flying towards the forest.
Just a little further.
She reached it, sprinted through the dense trees and to the cover of deeper woods. Her heart pounded, her lungs burned. Behind her, she heard the two Enforcers rushing forward.
She swung left, careful to stay away from the well-worn paths that the wood workers left behind.
The Enforcers were closer, their breaths coming hard and fast.
The forest grew darker as the dense foliage overhead hid more and more light.
She peddled right, ran straight, then left again.
Just ahead, a dense growth of bushes. She headed towards it, sprinting as fast as she could when her feet no longer found purchase on the ground. She was falling for a moment, then her side hit hard floor, sending bolts of pain through her right shoulder.
She heard the Enforcers boots above, running, stuttering, back peddling.
Don’t breathe.
They were right above her now, circling, questioning where she went.
“Don't move,” someone whispered.
She didn’t breathe until the boots were gone.
“Who are you?” the voice asked.
Eva sat up, holding her tender right shoulder with her left hand. She had fallen into some sort of tunnel, the only light coming from the clear roof above, between the scattering of leaves, dirt and twigs.
What is this place?
“I said who are you?”
“My name is Empress Eva.”
“The one the Enforcers are looking for? Why are they pursuing you?”
Eva squinted in the darkness, not able to identify where the voice was coming from.
“I hit one of them with my hovercraft.”
“Why?”
“Where are you?”
“Answer my question first!”
“Czarina Arees is trying to have me sent to the Hall of Judgment because I helped my friend gather evidence against her.”
“Keep talking.”
“My friend was trying to free her slave, and found evidence that connected Arees with the slave riots.” She paused. “I’m looking for my slave, Lex. He ran to Mahala. I’m trying to find it.”
“Mahala is a myth.”
“So I’ve been told.” Eva stood up tall, the ceiling just above her head.
“Unfortunately, I can’t let you go any further. I was waiting for someone, and you aren’t him.”
She heard the whizz of a Venian Blaster booting up, panic rising in her chest. “The sun will find me,” she blurted out, remembering Yalen’s words.
The blaster powered down with another whizz.
“Who told you to say that?”
Eva searched for a lie, decided that it was better to tell the truth.
“Yalen, Empress Baleen’s Prime Servant.”
The tunnel was silent for some time.
“Follow me,” The voice said.
“Where are we going?”
“To Mahala.”
Chapter 32
Marie sent an icy look to the Enforcer sitting behind the desk in the lobby of the Hall of Judgment.
“My name is Empress Marie Lumesta. I am here to see my daughter, Empress Nadira Marie.”
Her chin jutted forward, her back was straight and strong. Marie looked every bit the Ambassador that she used to be.
“Empress Nadira has been arrested for robbery and conspiracy to murder.”
“I am aware of it.”
“I can give you a visitor’s pass, but only for a short time.”
“It’s more then I need. I also would like a pass to visit Prime Servant Kiln.”
“Owner?”
“Empress Nadira Marie.”
The Enforcer typed something into her touch screen “A rioter, huh?”
Marie remained silent.
“Prime Servant Kiln is in special holding. No one is allowed to visit him without clearance.”
“Prime Servant Kiln belongs to my daughter.”
“I’m sorry, there’s nothing that I can do.”
“I want to see him before he is executed. Can you do that? Can you grant him the kindness of seeing his Grand Empress one last time before he dies?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that Empress.”
“I will make it worth your while,” she leaned in close, held out her touch screen. “I will give you five thousand vesuvians.”
The Enforcer looked left, then right. She pulled out her touch screen, touched it to Marie’s, transferring the funds. “I can give you ten minutes, but you must be out before then.”
Marie smiled. “I’ll only need five. Thank you, officer. You’ve been more then helpful.”
The Enforcer scanned a plastic card. Wrote something on the back of it.
“This card is for Empress Nadira. I gave you thirty minutes. I wrote down the slave’s cell number on that as well. Remember, I can only give you ten minutes. After that, you’ll have to check in and I could lose my job.”
“As I said, I only want to say goodbye.”
The Officer nodded, waved Marie to the elevators.
After a short ride down, Marie turned right down the first hallway, heading for Kiln.
She and Maxwell had been half way to Zenith when they received a message from Nadira with a feed of several conversations between Arees and Bragnia. A second message followed from an unknown person, with a video clearly showing one of Arees servants poisoning Drell’s soup.
It didn’t take long for her and Maxwell to turn the ship around. By the time they reached Venus again, they had formulated a plan, and split up.
She found Kiln lying on an uncomfortable looking cot, staring at the wall.
She knocked on the glass.
“Kiln?” she said.
Kiln’s eyes swung up to her, and he immediately stood, bowed his head.
Marie used her pass to open the door, and stood in the doorway.
“G
rand Empress,” Kiln said. “What are you doing here?”
“I am here to see if you are well. How are they treating you?”
Kiln frowned. “An Enforcer came by and told me that I was to be executed tonight.”
“Tonight?” Marie asked. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“As am I, Grand Empress.”
The silence in the cell rung through Marie’s her ears.
“Kiln, me and you haven’t always seen eye to eye, but we both had one thing in common. We both love her.”
“Yes, Grand Empress. Very much.”
“I want you to promise me something. Promise me that whatever happens, you are going to take care of my daughter. Promise me that you will protect her, honor her.”
“I can’t do that from in here, Grand Empress.”
“Promise me, Kiln.”
Kiln paused. “I promise. Even if you had not said it, I would have done those things. I’m only a slave, but I love her more than life itself. She’s my purpose.”
“She’s mine too.” Marie smiled softly. She walked to the cot and sat. She gestured for Kiln to join her. “When did you know that you loved my daughter?”
Kiln frowned, pulling a memory from the back of his mind.
“May I speak freely?” he asked.
She nodded.
“You used to have those glass figurines in the window.” He smiled, his mind going back to that day long ago. “And every morning, when the light hit them just right, rainbows would burst through the room.” He chucked. “Nadira loved to look at those rainbows. One day, about ten years ago, she was standing in front of the window, and she had cupped her hand, and a little rainbow formed inside of it. Then she turned to me, and she said, look Kiln. I’ve caught a rainbow. Her eyes were so happy, and she was so full of life and joy. She was beautiful. I remember her looking down at her hand, and the rainbow was gone.” He paused. “It was at that moment when I saw all of the joy drain from her eyes. My heart just broke. So, I turned her back around, and told her to cup her hand again, and the rainbow came back. Then her joy came back. And then she laughed. And then, I fell in love with her.” His eyes rose to Marie, heavy with unshed tears. “Just like that.”
Marie nodded, her breathing heavy. “Thank you, Kiln.” She stood, and turned to go.
“Grand Empress,” he said.
She paused mid step, turned back to him.
“What about you? When did you know that you loved her?”
She smiled, placed a hand to her heart.
“When I first saw her.”
She left then, closing the door behind her.
She had to find her daughter.
Chapter 33
The tunnel ended, and Eva and the voice moved above ground.
Finally, in the light, she was able to identify her new companion.
It was a large man. His long wavy brown hair fell to his shoulders, and his sharp green eyes startled her with their intensity. He looked directly into her eyes, not at the floor like other men. He wasn’t slightly stooped, but stood tall, straight. He had an air of confidence about him that she’d never seen another man possess, as if he were her equal, or higher.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“Cobb,” he replied, not bowing or using the customary greeting.
They looked at each other for a long moment.
“Are you trying to establish some sort of dominance over me, Cobb?” Eva asked. “I’ve heard animals do that.”
“I don’t need to establish what I’ve already gotten. Maybe you’d be better suited back in the forest where I found you. You remember, right? When you were running from the Enforcers?”
Arrogance. I hate arrogance.
“No one asked you to save me.”
“We could remedy that.”
Cobb crossed his arms across his chest, his smile bright and victorious. “You know, I think I will remedy it.”
“You’re taking me back to the Enforcers?!”
“Maybe I will. I don’t know. A little gratitude may persuade me one way or the other.”
She grounded her teeth, her words coming out tight. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Steam practically rose from her head, “For saving me from the Enforcers.”
“Don’t say it if it hurts,” he grinned. “Can’t stand a man with a back bone, can you? It must be strange looking into your past, at what once was.” Cobb stepped closer, taking up her space. “That’s something you’ll have to get used to. If you want to go to Mahala, this is what you’ll be living with.”
“Lex is not like this.”
“That’s because he hasn’t tasted freedom. Give him a bit. He’ll come around.”
Eva’s mouth dropped as Cobb turned and began walking through the woods.
No, Lex is not like this. He’s not and he won’t be. He’ll still have respect.
Trying not to let Cobb get to her, Eva forced herself to walk next to him, refusing to seem as if she was less by walking behind.
“How much farther?”
“You’ll have an hour or so to endure me, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“No, that’s not what I was asking.”
“Wasn’t it?”
“You’ve never been a slave, have you? Or is it just poor training?”
Cobb hooted, as if she’d said the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “A slave? No ma’am. I’m pure bred Mahala, born and raised.”
“That explains your attitude.”
“Yes, because my attitude needs explaining.”
He stopped near a tree, knocked three times, looked up, whistled, and picked up their pace.
“What was that all about?” Eva asked.
“I still have a man out there that needs to be picked up. They’ll be sending someone else soon.”
“Do you get a lot of runaways?”
“A few a month maybe. I’m surprised that no one has made a stink about it yet.”
“They would if they could find out where everyone was going.”
“Hopefully they never do.”
Eva nodded. “That’s one thing we can agree on. Are there a lot of men like you in Mahala?”
“Men like me? Oh, you mean arrogant and disrespectful? I suppose there are.”
“That’s not what I meant. You know, you don’t have to respond to everything I say with sarcasm and derision.”
“I didn’t think I was derisive at all.”
Eva growled. “If everyone in Mahala is like you, I don’t think that I’ll be staying there very long.”
“Perhaps you should head back to Alpha then. You seem like you were having a great time there, until you fell in love with a slave, and ran away. But who knows, maybe they’ll forgive you for it.”
“There is no forgiveness in Alpha.”
Cobb put his hand on his chin. “Can’t go home. Can’t stay here. Looks like you’ll be making a trip to the stars, sister.”
“Don’t call me sister.”
“Can’t help it. I call all women sister, except my mom. Think of it like your titles, Empress and Queen and Slave Master Three Thousand.”
Eva frowned to keep from laughing out loud.
“Don’t hide your smile there sister. I know I’m hilarious.”
“Hardly. It’s hard to believe though.”
“What is?”
“That you have a mother. With your manners I would have thought that you were hatched from an alien egg.”
“Now whose being sarcastic and derisive?”
She couldn’t hide her smile then.
“And for your information, I do have a mother. I told you I was born and bred in Mahala. I have a mother, a father, brothers and sisters.”
Eva’s stomach flipped.
Father? That must mean they’re... by Venus, they’re breeding here! It’s impossible. Women haven’t bred with anything but a tube for thousands of years.
“You alright sister? You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine. It’s just a lot to take in.”
“Oh that’s right. You women don’t get pregnant the normal way. Well, stick around. If this slave is as great as you say he is, you’ll have a set of little ones running around in no time.”
“I doubt it.”
“I’d give it a week.”
“Interesting, considering you don’t know anything about me or Lex.”
“I don’t need to. I’ve seen your type before.”
“My type? What type is that?”
“Fall in love, run away. Pretty soon, we won’t be able to peel you off of him.”
“That’s disgusting, and I don’t appreciate you saying such things out loud.”
“Now don’t go turning into one of them on me.”
“One of whom?”
“One of those women who come out here with big dreams of love, and then they can’t handle it, turn tail, and try to run. It’s one thing to love someone who does everything you say, but when they start looking you in the eye, start having an opinion, start disagreeing with you, you turn right around and become what you just ran away from.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll never do that to Lex.”
“Right. You just size people up, you use your fancy words to trim them down, and, if they don’t run away screaming, you give a little.”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“From that look in your eye, I think that you’ve given a bit.”
“You know, you could grow on someone Cobb, almost like a wart.”
He winked at her. “So I’ve been told.”
“I’m not going to be like that, though. Like those women you talked about. Lex deserves better than that.”
“I don’t know sister. I’ve been around a long time, seen a lot of you come and go.”
“Go? What do you mean go?”
“Well, I was going to let the Elders tell you when you arrived, but I suppose that I’m just as suited to give you the warning. If you can’t make it work here, we’ll have to deport you.”
“Deport me?”
Cobb nodded solemnly.
“Deport me where?”
“To Mars.”
“Mars? I will not be shackled to a breeding house on Mars.”
“I don’t think they shackle anyone anymore. I’d have to check though.”
Eva thought of the women who made the trip. To go from being rulers of the planet, to being kept in a Martian breeding house with hundreds of other women, never knowing who would summon you to their bed, never quite knowing who fathered the child you were bearing. She would go from being an Empress to a slave, one to be used and thrown away as if her life was worth nothing. Her stomach rolled in disgust at the entire planet.
