by Jade Kerrion
“The quadrant is not dependent on one person, but it helps to have a rallying point. The people still rally around him and you.”
“Where is Zekon? I want to talk to him alone, except for Kir.”
The general looked over his shoulder.
“General, Kir Davos. He is Jeva Tahak’s associate, and he will, over time, ascend to the position as my Chief-of-Staff.” She hoped the implications were clear to Deno Han. In time, you’ll be taking orders from Kir.
Apparently, the general did. A thin smile spread over his face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Davos.”
“A pleasure, General.”
“This way, my Lady.” The general entered a code on a security panel and then instructed Jem to hold her palm against the reader. “It will open only under your command. A security panel will separate Zekon from you; you will be able to see and hear him, but he cannot touch you.”
The general stepped aside. Jem nodded and then walked into the room. Kir followed, and the door slid silently shut behind them.
On the other side of the room, the grey panel shifted into a clear screen.
“Zekon.” Jem was amazed that her voice had not trembled.
The man was thin, even haggard. Years of hard living had worn on him, but it had also accentuated the fire in his dark eyes. Zekon threw himself against the clear screen and pounded against it as if sheer willpower would break down the barrier. “You bitch! What have you and your father done to him?”
“Lukas is safe from you.” And from my father.
Zekon spat into the screen. “He was just a baby. He had nothing to do with it. Your father executed an innocent woman and turned me into a fugitive—”
“Your mother tried to poison us.”
“My mother loved your father. She would never have hurt him. She would never have hurt you.”
“They traced the poisons to her. She confessed.”
“They drugged and tortured her. She would have confessed to anything by the time your sick minions were done with her.”
Jem paled. “That’s not true.”
“It is true. I had nothing to do with this, Jem. You know me.”
“I thought I knew you,” she whispered. “I trusted you.”
“I’m just trying to find Lukas. I thought he was dead. I thought your father killed him, and then I started to hear rumors that you’d taken him and hidden him.”
“Where did you hear the rumors?”
“Bars and taverns. People talk about the nobility; everyone agreed that Lady Meira would never let anyone hurt a child, most especially not her little half-brother. I started to hope…started to believe again that Lukas might be alive.”
“You…followed me.”
“Yes, but you didn’t lead me to him. You were too damned careful. And then I saw you with the little boy, his brother.” Zekon nodded at Kir. “For awhile, I wondered if he was Lukas, but the boy’s history is documented, fully supported by legitimate paperwork. I know you…I knew you would want to record Lukas’s location somewhere and give him a chance to find his family again if something ever happened to you. You’d record it in the most permanent way you could find. For you, right now, it’s in your simulation…in your planet.”
Jem fought the need to flinch from so brutally true an assessment of her. Was she really that transparent? Perhaps she wasn’t, but Zekon, her stepbrother, knew her better than many others did.
Zekon swore. “I’ll find him, Jem. I’m going to find Lukas.”
She raised her chin. “I won’t let you have him. If you think you can use him as a pawn against Father, you should think again. Father doesn’t care, not anymore.”
“This isn’t about your father, or your damned galactic quadrant. I never wanted any of it. I just want my brother back.”
“I want my brother safe.” Jem’s voice cracked. “Safe is not with you, or with Father, or even with me.”
“Jem, I had no part in the poisoning. You have to believe me.”
“Zekon, the evidence—”
“Lies, Jem, all lies. I would never hurt you. I loved you. You have to believe me.”
“Why?” Her voice caught on a soft sob.
Zekon shook his head. For a long while, he did not seem to know what to say. “Because no one else will,” he said finally, quietly.
She turned her back on him, walked to the door, and held her palm up against the security panel. The door slid open and she walked out, Kir beside her. The door shut on Zekon’s cry. “Jem!”
Jem shook her hair back from her face. Pale and rigid, she turned to the Governor General. “I want a full investigation into my poisoning.”
“My Lady, the investigation was completed three years ago. The perpetrators were sentenced. Zekon Daivler was sentenced in absentia when he fled to avoid being taken into custody.”
“Reopen the investigation. Start from the beginning. I want new officers on that case, a fresh set of eyes.”
“Understood. What about Zekon Daivler? He’s a Class Five criminal, and our laws call for an immediate execution. His is scheduled for tomorrow morning.”
“His sentence is hereby suspended pending further investigation. I want to be kept informed of the status of the investigation. In the meantime, if something fatal happens to Zekon, I’m going to be very disappointed, and people will lose more than their jobs. Is that clear, General?”
“But what if an order comes from the Regent?”
“The Regent can barely form a coherent sentence. Any command that purports to come from the Regent simply does not. All direction must be cleared by me. In my father’s incapacity, I serve as the Regis. For now, Zekon Daivler is under my protection.”
“We understand, Lady Meira.”
“Thank you. Kir?”
He escorted her past the hordes of reporters to the waiting executive transporter. Once secure behind the tinted windows of the transporter, Jem relaxed, the facade of strength crumpling like crushed silk. “Could he have been telling the truth?”
Kir shook his head. “I don’t know, Jem. I don’t know any of the facts.”
She turned her head away from him and stared blindly out the window. “We were a family,” she whispered quietly. “We were happy. My stepmother…I thought she loved me. She was good to me. When it happened, it ripped the heart out of our family. If Zekon’s telling the truth, was my stepmother innocent too? If they’re both innocent, who tried to poison my father and me?”
“There aren’t going to be any easy answers, or even quick ones, but at least you’re giving him another chance.”
“Or am I just dragging out the inevitable?” she wondered. She activated her image enhancer, and relaxed with the transformation. Each image had developed a subtly different personality. She liked the spiky-haired Jem with her slightly abrasive attitude and sharp tongue compared to the cool alabaster statue of Lady Meira who gave commands with hauteur and expected them to be obeyed without question.
Sometimes, she was not sure she liked her real self all that much.
Kir broke the silence. “Did you want me to keep on top of the investigation and how it’s developing?”
She nodded. “Will you, please? I think I’m too close to the situation to be objective.”
“Understandable,” Kir said. “I’ll do everything I can. Did you want me to keep an eye on Lukas too?”
“He’s safe, Kir, and I intend to keep him that way. If I tell you, will I also be telling all the people you think you trust?”
“You won’t. It’ll be just me. Jem, you can’t go through life alone, bearing burdens that were meant to be shared.”
She bit down on her lower lip. “All right, Kir, but if you betray me, I will kick your ass.”
“You?” He looked down loftily at her. He had all of two inches on her.
“Me, no. Jem Moran won’t, but trust me, Livia Jemeran Meira will most certainly get your ass kicked.”
He laughed, and it helped her laugh too.
/> 17
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. The Bible is the best-selling book in history with approximate sales estimates ranging from 2.5 billion to 6 billion.
– Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
* * *
The announcement of the simulation results took place at the Schran Auditorium, a massive hall that accommodated thirty thousand people across multiple-layers of seating. Together with their other classmates, Jem and Kir sat in the first row.
“Relax.” Kir grabbed Jem’s cold fingers. “You’re fidgeting.”
“I’m nervous.”
“So am I, and so is everyone else.”
“It’s a lost cause, isn’t it?” Jem asked starkly.
“Probably,” Kir conceded. “We didn’t get as far as we wanted, but there were some very extenuating circumstances.”
“None that matter to the professor or to the judging committee.”
“No, but it should matter to us. We did a good job, Jem. Kav is alive and fully recovered from his illness. You tackled your family issues head-on, and you’re engaged to a great guy. It’s been a hell of a year, and we didn’t even break the planet. In fact, I’d go so far as to suggest that it’s thriving.”
“In spite of us.”
“Not true. We helped out some. We definitely left our mark on the planet. All those drawings I did out near the mountains? They’re still there. The occasional sighting of Nesieg’s family is still confusing the heck out of people, not to mention all those weird manuscripts you inspired. The humans are still trying to decipher them.”
Jem chuckled. “We had fun, didn’t we?”
“We sure did. I’ll confess it got a lot more fun when we got involved with individuals. There’s something to be said for getting up close and personal.”
“Thank you for coming out today,” Professor Ptera said, his voice carrying through the audio amplifiers throughout the hall. “Today, we congratulate and celebrate the winners of the simulation. This has been an especially difficult year for many teams who were forced to work within the constraints of a system created by others. The teams that were more successful found ways to thrive in spite of the system. So, without further ado, let’s congratulate our winners. In third place: Dri Zabra and Sani Mudo, representing the Atlante team. Dri and Sani found their planet facing extinction after their humanoids were exterminated. Nevertheless, they successfully recovered, and their dominant humanoid species today is considered genetically superior to its predecessor. Dri and Sani, congratulations!”
“Wait, their dominant humanoid species?” Kir leaned over to whisper in Jem’s ear. “Aren’t those the Island of Atlas people that we sent back to them?”
Jem nodded, her shoulders sagging.
“Maybe we should have kept them,” Kir said.
“Apparently. Damn it.”
“Second place goes to Abek Ovan and Vidi Gubri, representing the Shixar. I don’t need to tell you how successful that Shixar have been. They have displaced two galactic empires to become the dominant force in the universe today. Their influence is significant, and will likely grow in the future. Their win is well deserved.”
Jem sighed.
Kir squeezed her fingers. “It’s okay. I still think we got one in on them.”
“First place this year goes to an unlikely contender who, nevertheless, received unanimous votes from our team of judges. This planet has only begun to mature, but due to the efforts of its managers, its influence on the universe is profound. Genetically, the humanoids of Atlante owe a great deal to this planet.”
Jem’s breath caught. She looked at Kir, but Kir was not looking at her. He was staring incredulously at Professor Ptera.
“This planet, a scarce nine light years from the Shixar Imperium, has thus far escaped the weight of its military conquest because a human from this planet became the consort of the Shixar Empress. That’s an interesting way to negotiate a peace treaty. Judging from the stunned expressions on Abek and Vidi’s faces, I don’t think they even realized it. This is why individuals matter. Individuals change the fate of the world. And last, but certainly not least, this team went further and deeper than any other. They were the only team to challenge the assumptions of the simulation. This isn’t a world simulation. It’s a universe simulation. Many of you had the life forms from your planet negotiate with the life forms of other planets, or you negotiated among yourselves. This team was the only team that negotiated terms directly with the central command system. Occasionally, they attempted to hack it, with some success. I said previously that the successful teams found ways to thrive in spite of the system. However, the most successful one found ways to change the system entirely. They spent as much time managing the universe as they did their own planet, and it made them profoundly successful, as you can tell from their skillful insertions into the affairs of the Atlante and the Shixar. They also went deeper than anyone else. They were the first, and only, team to realize that an anomaly exists in the simulated universe. There is something deeper and more profound than anyone can explain. There is an intelligence—neither human nor artificial—that exists and works in the simulated universe as much as in our own. They were open enough and curious enough to find evidence for it. That team is Jem Moran and Kir Davos. Let’s welcome them up here!”
Jem did not move.
Kir, half-standing, tugged hard on her hand. “Come on. Let’s go up.”
Dazed, she followed. We won?
The walk up to the raised platform seemed much too long. The faces of cheering students blurred together, and the applause faded into a white nose that Jem could scarcely hear over the pounding of her heart. She shook the professor’s hand and then stepped aside for Kir to shake the professor’s hand, too.
Reality sank in slowly. We won…
The professor grinned at them. “Do you have any words of wisdom you’d like to share with your fellow classmates and with the teams that will take on the burden of guiding the planets and the universe after you?”
Kir grabbed Jem’s hand and pulled her along as he stepped forward. “We…weren’t really prepared for this honor.”
“Just tell us what you did.”
Kir shrugged. “Most of the time, it felt like our strategic plan boiled down to ‘survive one more day.’ We’re…” He glanced at Jem. “We’re very different, but eventually we realized we each had strengths that could come to play at different times to save our planet. Right, Jem?”
She nodded and tightened her fingers around his. “Ultimately, we stopped worrying about the simulation and tried to make sure that the people on our planet were equipped to face their future. Kir taught me that life is always about the individual. A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
Kir arched his eyebrows. “That’s a good line, but I didn’t come up with it.”
Jem shrugged. “I borrowed it from one of the humans on our planet.”
“That’s testament to the relationships you have with your planet’s humans,” Professor Ptera commended. “Thank you, Jem and Kir. Oh, wait,” he called out as they stepped away. “What did you decide to name your planet?”
Jem glanced at Kir and smiled. “We didn’t name it. Our humans did. It’s called ‘Earth.’”
“A person's a person, no matter how small.”—Dr. Seuss
* * *
The reception that followed the announcement of the world simulation results was a gaudy affair hosted by the university president. Jem caught glimpses of Kir in the crush of people, but both were swarmed under by congratulations and did not have a chance to talk to each other until most of the crowd had dispersed. Tired, happy, and relieved that the evening was over, Jem sank into a chair to rest her aching feet.
“One more toast, Jem.”
She looked up and smiled at Kir, accepting the glass he held out. They raised their glasses to each other. The edges tapped together with a sparkling sound. “Congratul
ations to us.” Kir grinned at Jem over the rim of his glass. Kav climbed onto Jem’s lap and settled into a comfortable cuddle. The little boy reached up and played with the delicate spiral of the earrings that dangled from Jem’s earlobe.
Jem pressed an affectionate kiss to Kav’s sweaty hair, and then offered Kir a rueful smile. “I didn’t see it coming,” she confessed.
Kir leaned against the wall. “Me neither. We gave up on winning after Genitura.”
“I think giving up was key. We stopped caring about us and started caring about the planet. It became real.”
Kir shrugged. “I still think it’s incredibly ironic. Congratulations to you on being the youngest person accepted to the Academy.”
“And to you on being the second youngest. Will you be attending the Academy?”
Kir shook his head. “I’m starting a new job two weeks after graduation, remember?”
“The employment contract can be adjusted.”
Kir grinned. “I thought you’d say that, but I’m looking forward to working and getting some real world experience. I figure it’ll be a crash course, not just in asset management, but in planetary management, considering that an entire quadrant of the galaxy counts toward your family’s assets.”
“What about attending the Academy and working part-time? You’ll still earn enough to support Kav while in school.”
“You’re doing your best to make it impossible for me to say ‘no’ to the Academy. Why?”
Jem twirled the glass around in her hand. “I…I guess I’m not ready to say goodbye to you and Kav.”
Kir chuckled softly. “You’re not saying goodbye to us. Heck, I’ll be working for you.”
“It’s not the same thing.”
“Jem, we’ve spent almost every waking second of the past year together because of this simulation. Some time apart won’t hurt.”
But that was the problem. She was afraid it would hurt and that it would leave a gaping hole in her life.
Kir continued. “You and Rio need some quality time together. You’ll get that at the Academy.”
