Raven's Song

by Launnie Roush

  “What happened at 22-A?” he asked.

  A look of agony contorted Max’s facial features, and he could not bring himself to speak.

  “Ronald told me of your actions in private,” his father informed him, a paternal gentleness suddenly coming from him, “What were you thinking, son? They were unarmed Liberty employees just trying to escape the fighting. You know we don’t kill innocent people; it’s against the law and corporate philosophy, not to mention your mother and I raised you better than that. Those people had families, Maximilian, loved ones. Did that even occur to you?”

  Max said nothing as he hung his head.

  “Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Frederic pressed.

  “I never meant to hurt the innocent,” Max said quietly, “I’ve committed an unspeakable act. I slaughtered people who meant me no harm. For this I’ll burn for an eternity while the Creator turns his gaze away from me. I also throw myself at the mercy of the Truth, and I accept the full punishment befitting a criminal such as myself.”

  Frederic sighed, “Max, my beloved boy. I know very little about the teachings of the Order of the Creator, but I’m sure if you’re truly sorry for what you’ve done, then the Creator will forgive you.”

  Max nodded, although he still could not meet his father’s gaze.

  “Maximilian, look at me,” Frederic commanded.

  Max slowly raised his head.

  “The only reason you haven’t been turned over to the authorities is that there’s no solid evidence that it was you who killed those innocents. Ronald, of course, was a witness but swears he’ll keep his mouth shut. However, if this happens again, I’ll have no choice but to turn you in,” Frederic imparted.

  “I understand, Father. It’ll never happen again,” Max promised, his voice cracking.

  Fredric embraced his son, “I love you dearly, son, and I understand your pain, but try to be more careful. Errors like this could cost you your freedom and, worse still, your son’s life. Just keep it together a while longer, and we’ll get him back.”

  Max could do nothing but weep.

  TWENTY ONE

  Blaring music assaulted Celeste’s ears as she stepped into the West Chieftown speakeasy. This was her first visit to a speakeasy, and she was shocked by the sheer amount of people filling the place, people willing to disregard the laws of the Federation simply to find a good time. Pulling her brown linen overcoat tight around her body, she made her way to the crowded bar and shouldered in between two large, smelly men.

  “Excuse me! I’m looking for Richard Fulsom!” she shouted to the mustached man who was tending bar.

  “And why would you want to know where he is, mi pequeña belleza?” the man, whose nametag identified him as Ramiro, asked.

  Celeste answered coldly, “I’m his sister.”

  Ramiro held up his hands, “All apologies, señorita. He’s got his own corner booth by the stage.”

  Celeste pushed away from the bar and headed towards the stage, upon which an electronica-metal band wailed on their instruments while their front man screeched song lyrics at the audience. Celeste caught sight of her brother sprawled out in the corner booth and hurried in that direction. Richard was swigging from a bottle of dark red liquid when his sister slid into the booth and glared at him across the table. He finished drinking and regarded her with a bright smile.

  “How’re you, Little Sister?” he greeted, his voice strangely tight as he placed the bottle on the table.

  “Why am I here?” she asked with obvious disdain.

  Richard slid his bottle across the table and waited to see what his sister would do. When almost a minute had gone by and Celeste had not touched the bottle, Richard shrugged, reached for his bottle, and took another deep pull of the liquid.

  “Are you gonna answer my question or not?!” Celeste pressed, exasperation joining her disdain.

  A pained expression came over Richard’s face and he slammed the bottle to the table, “Gimme a sec, sis.”

  Celeste nodded and watched bemusedly as Richard writhed about on the booth’s padded bench, his breath coming in quick, shuddering gasps while he clawed at the tabletop with trembling fingers. A long, loud groan suddenly escaped him and he slumped back on the bench, a light sheen of sweat glistening on his face as he panted for breath. A rustling came from beneath the table, and Celeste gasped when a pretty, scantily-clad young woman crawled from beneath the table and stood up while wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

  “Oh Holy Humanity!” Celeste gagged.

  “Twenty dollars,” the woman demanded of Richard.

  Richard wired the money to the woman’s bank account via Cell, waving her away once the cash had been transferred. “Twenty dollars for fellatio’s not a bad deal. Perhaps that young lady would be willing to service you for another twenty,” he mused.

  “One last time; why am I here?!”

  “Well, my sister, in a word, business. I have a proposition I think you’ll find very agreeable.”

  Celeste waited with quiet impatience for her brother to continue.

  “So, Pater has named you his successor. If he were to die, you’d inherit controlling interest of Liberty Enterprises and be a very powerful woman. However, you have no idea how to run a business, and because of this the politicians and other business owners won’t respect you and will walk all over you. It’ll be even worse if Bertram Von Raben wins the presidential election.”

  Celeste sighed, “What’s your point with all this? Father’s alive and well, and with any luck, he’ll be able to work out his difficulties with the Von Rabens.”

  “My point,” Richard answered, “is this; I was educated in business and politics. I was next in line to be CEO of Liberty until Pater had the gall to disown me. But I haven’t been idle in my exile; I’ve made some very powerful friends, ones who kept me outta prison and will make me very powerful.”

  “Who?”

  “Them,” Richard answered, pointing to his left.

  Celeste followed the line of his finger and found it leading to one of the Spider genins. She felt a chill go down her spine when the genin looked in her direction.

  “Here’s the deal; I eliminate Pater, and you become CEO. Then, when the time’s right, you step down and name me as your replacement. After that, I’ll have the Spiders help me finish off the Von Rabens, and from there, who’s to say? Only thing I know for certain is you’ll be well cared for,” Richard proposed with a small, conspiratorial smile.

  “Let me get this straight,” Celeste said, “you want to eliminate our father, an expression that I can only assume implies killing. Then when I become CEO of Liberty, I’m supposed to turn control of the third most profitable corporation in the Federation over to you so that you can wage open war against the Von Rabens and Humanity knows what else?”

  “Exactly!”

  “I think alcohol’s rendered you stupid! I’d never step down for you! I may have only recently been trained to be CEO, but I’m willing to wager that I’d be a better one than you could ever hope to be! And if you dare try something against me or Pater, I’ll see you jailed so fast you’ll still be drunk from your latest drinking binge when they toss you in your cell, and no Spider or any other aid you can come up with will keep it from happening!” Celeste raged before shooting to her feet and storming from the speakeasy.

  Celeste had just made it to the speakeasy’s main exit when a hand clapped down on her shoulder. She let out a cry of pain as a bolt of agony flared in her right flank and ripped through her. She felt a sharp tugging followed by a strange release of pressure in her midsection. She staggered around and found the Spider genin that guarded the door standing with a bloody kama in one hand. Celeste intended to scream for help, but only a small, mewling cry issued from her before she lost consciousness and crashed to the floor.

  Richard stepped into the room and looked down upon his dying sister with an arrogant smirk. “One down!” he bragged.

  #

&
nbsp; Alexander could feel himself withering into nothing. The stress of running Liberty had always been hard to deal with, but now the Liebe Party was destroying everything he had worked so diligently to attain. The rebels and their heretical I-SIRs had broken the back of his economic infrastructure with the destruction of 22-A. He was not sure if Liberty and, more importantly, he would be able to recover from this loss if the Liebe Party continued to press him. His employees had always been a thorn in his side with their complaints of low luxury income levels, but when he instituted pay cuts and shift increases, an action rendered necessary by his having to pay the Spiders, they became dangerous. Their attacks on his personal property, which were ultimately self-defeating as the income loss forced him to further increase the pay cuts, were now putting him in a dangerous predicament; if he gave in to his employees’ demands, he would be unable to pay the Spiders, and they would destroy him, but the Leibe Party would destroy him if he did not.

  It was a week after the fall of 22-A, and Alexander was in his private home office trying to plan out some semblance of damage control. He had ultimately decided to give money to the families of the fallen workers to hopefully appear softer and more kind to his employees than he had been in the past. With any luck this would placate the Liebe Party just long enough for him to get back on his feet, so to speak. This, in turn, would ultimately give him the personal income necessary to pay off the Spiders, so long as they were willing to wait for said payment or take installments.

  His office door creaked open, and Alexander looked up to see Richard creep in. “Didn’t I disown you?!” he asked, his voice tight with anger and loathing.

  Richard approached the desk and took a seat across from his father. “I wanted to apologize for all the heartache I’ve caused you. I see now the wisdom of your actions and wish you well on your endeavors.”

  Alexander was unmoved by his son’s words. “I should have you drug out of here and beaten to death!”

  “I think it’d be wise for you to accept my apology.”

  “GET OUTTA MY HOUSE!”

  “It’s my house now,” Richard retorted coldly, “so I think I’ll stay.”

  Alexander was preparing to shoot to his feet and storm around his desk when something cold and thin settled against the skin of his throat and tightened painfully. Panic sent his blood racing upon his discovering that he could not draw even the smallest amount of air into his lungs. His shout of rage issued from his lips as a small, pained gag, and he struggled to free himself, but his attacker proved far too powerful to overcome. He clawed at the wire cutting into the skin below his Adam’s apple, but it would not give, and he could already feel a heavy hollowness growing in his limbs.

  Alexander put up a ferocious resistance but could do nothing to best his attacker. Soon his thrashings weakened, and his vision dimmed. His body gave one final titanic heave, and Alexander Fulsom slumped into his chair before passing out of the world forever.

  Richard watched as the genin released the wooden handles of the garrote wrapped around his father’s neck. As the genin retreated into the shadows, Richard went to his father’s side and took in the man’s ashen complexion and grotesque facial expression with cold indifference. He checked for a pulse, and upon finding none let a smile of triumph form on his face.

  “Apology accepted, my beloved pater.”

  #

  Pauline had been invited to resume her employment in the Fulsom house staff after Stephen’s death at the hands of a Von Raben agitator. At first, she had been devastated by his death and had spent her days mired in a wretched bereavement. Over time, the potency of her sadness had slowly faded, and she was now able to face the world with a kind of careful confidence and happiness. Exactly one week after Richard had been appointed Chairman and CEO of Liberty Enterprises, she was working late at the Fulsom mansion to earn some extra luxury money. It was early in the evening, and she was busily dusting the library when the door was thrown open with a bang and one of her coworkers, a young woman named Ruth, rushed up to her.

  “Tell me why you did it!” she young woman demanded.

  “What’re you talking about?!” Pauline asked with exasperation, the eternally-bubbly young woman speaking to her continuing her habit of being a source of extreme annoyance.

  “Why’d you kill Alexander?! If you give me a really good reason, I might help you.”

  “Are you crazy?! I didn’t kill anyone, let alone Mr. Fulsom!” Pauline snapped.

  “You’re a friggin’ hero! The entire Von Raben family and everybody workin’ for him wanted him dead, and you made it happen!” Ruth gushed.

  “What’s making you carry on like this?!”

  “There was a news ticker on not ten minutes ago with security footage showin’ a woman that looked an awful lot like you stranglin’ the old bastard!”

  “It’s wasn’t me.”

  “If it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Ruth countered.

  “It could’ve been anybody! I was at home the night Alexander was killed, so it obviously couldn’t have been me! I’m sure it’ll all get sorted out.”

  “I still think whoever did it is a hero.”

  Pauline ignored the young woman’s last remark and had moved on to the next table that needed dusting when a sudden thought stopped her short. She turned to Ruth, “What did you mean by helping me if I told you?”

  “Holy Humanity, I forgot to tell you, didn’t I?!” Ruth exclaimed, “I overheard Richard sayin’ he was gonna call the rangers on you!”

  Pauline was paralyzed with terror, “Are you sure?!”

  “Yeah, but if you turn yourself in before that, they’ll be more willin’ to listen to your claims of innocence,” Ruth assured her.

  Pauline let the rag she had been using for her dusting fall from her hand. “You’ll help me?”

  “Of course! First, we’ll take you out through the back, then we’ll go to the Bulls,” Ruth planned.

  “What then?!”

  “They’ll hold you for a few hours while you tell your side of things. Then they’ll check your story, and if they find out it’s true, they’ll let you go. It’s really no big deal, but, like I said, if they have to come get you, they’ll be a bit less inclined to believe you.”

  Celeste sucked in a deep, shuddering breath and said, “Okay, you’re right. I’ll go with you.”

  Ruth rushed to her side, “Good, now c’mon! We gotta hurry!”

  The women left the library and quietly made their way towards the mansion’s kitchen, where a little-used service entrance was located. They were just about to enter the dining hall when an authoritative voice ordered them to halt. They turned to find four Snake rangers standing behind them, their spathas drawn and readied. Pauline looked to Ruth for guidance and cried out when the young woman grabbed her by the shoulders and flung her towards the rangers.

  “I was lookin’ everywhere for you! I got her to confess her crimes and follow me from the library. She thought I was gonna help her escape to her Leibe Party allies,” Ruth declared proudly.

  “Why’re you doing this?!” Pauline wailed.

  Ruth stared coldly at her, “Been thinkin’ ‘bout getting some new furniture. The reward money’ll help with that.”

  Pauline could only break down into hysterical sobs as two of the rangers snatched her up by the wrists and began placing her in bonds.

  #

  On the seventh of March, 3173, countless Federation citizens tuned in to the nation’s foremost news network. At quarter to three that afternoon, the news anchor on duty made the much anticipated announcement, his demeanor cool and businesslike:

  After five weeks of testimony and deliberation, the trial of Pauline Carey has concluded. Miss Carey has been found guilty of murdering Alexander Fulsom, Chairman and CEO of Liberty Enterprises. Video footage showing Miss Carey strangling Mr. Fulsom was the crown jewel of the prosecution’s case, and though the defense tried to prove through image enhancement that the female in the video was a digital fo
rgery, they failed to do so. Miss Carey tearfully testified that she was at her home during the murder, but the story could never be corroborated, and an unnamed witness testified that Miss Carey confessed her crimes moments before being apprehended. The trial was sealed when forensic experts reported that they found Miss Carey’s DNA on the handles of the garrote used in the murder. Her representation argued that if the handles were made from a broomstick she had used during her work as a house servant, then her DNA would obviously be on the wood, but these testimonies fell on deaf ears.

  Miss Carey was quickly sentenced to life imprisonment in Dis. She was led sobbing from the courtroom, all the while alternately cursing Richard Fulsom and declaring her everlasting love for his twin brother Stephen, her former fiancé and recently murdered governor of Snake.

  #

  The Von Rabens continued their attacks on the Fulsom’s holdings under the guise of the Liebe Party. Under Michael’s brilliant leadership they never knew defeat in battle. Richard always suspected that the Von Rabens were somehow involved in the attacks, but could never prove his theory. Then in the summer of the year 3174, the Von Rabens were caught off guard when one of their programming studios in Jasbore, the second largest Raven city, was completely destroyed by a massive explosion, instantly killing hundreds of Veriform employees. A titanium cylinder containing a single sheet of paper was found among the rubble. On the sheet was a message reading simply, “Complements of the Liebe Party”.

  For the next four years the Liebe Party would be responsible for numerous attacks on both Von Raben and Fulsom holdings. The president, though in rapidly failing health, was outraged by the actions of this rebel group and put nearly all of her substantial resources into flushing out and eradicating this criminal faction, but to no avail. Although many realized that the Leibe Party was merely another face of the Von Raben-Fulsom feud, no one would dare to question the president’s staunch belief in the Party, though this belief obviously sprang from her newly emerging dementia