by J. Naomi Ay
"I didn't know you were married, Tex," Rent remarked as they both strutted from the restaurant, heading back to the repair bay one floor below.
"Sure am, Tonto." Tex tossed his spent cigarette on the linoleum floor and ground it out with the heel of his boot. "Going on something like nine hundred fifty million years, or at least it feels that way most of the time. That being said, every man needs a good woman or two. When we're done with our treasure hunting, you ought to find yourself a nice little wife."
"Ok," Rent replied, being the agreeable fellow that he was.
"Don't you worry, son. I'll help you find someone special. Stick with me, Tonto, you're going on one hell of a ride. Strap your seatbelt on, as you're gonna need it."
Silver was just about ready. The head gasket had been replaced, and the fuel filter and radiator were drained and filled.
"Aw, sheeet," Tex complained when he was handed the enormous bill. "That's a lot more than I thought this was gonna be."
While Tex argued with the repairman, Rent wandered about the bay. Two spaces down and across the hall was an Imperial SpaceNavy plane that was parked and like them, waiting on repairs. As no one was around, Rent went forward to gaze at the ship.
"Wow," he breathed aloud, falling instantly in love with the military plane.
It was the most beautiful piece of aerospace engineering that he had ever seen. All the parts were assembled and seamlessly sealed in the most logical way. The skin was sewn on at a nanotechnic level. The computer systems were more intelligent than the highest organic being.
As Rent gazed up at the magnificent prow, he imagined himself putting this all together. Each component, each piece would be hand placed by him with love. Then, he'd weep tears of joy as she sailed away across the stars.
"Pretty, ain't she," Tex said now standing by his side. "Every one of these broncos are built by SdK. Maybe after we're done scavenging, you ought to consider going to work for that firm. A smart boy like you could be useful doing some engineering. Someday you might find yourself running the whole show."
"That'd be awesome," Rent said with a sigh, as Tex slapped him on the back.
Rent wasn't particularly interested in being in charge. Frankly, he’d be happy locked in a room with his tools and a spaceplane to explore.
"Come on, son. It's time for us to load up the wagon train. I hear those coyotes howling for us to move out."
As Rent and Tex strode away, Kiman arrived to check on SpacePlane 2220.
"Hey!" He yelled to the men. "Stay right there."
Kiman took out his gun. He fired two shots in the air, which prompted Rent to run as fast as he could. He scrambled into Old Silver, his heart pounding, his breath coming hard, while Tex strode aboard as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
"Let's get out of here, Tex," Rent cried, locking the cabin door. "I don't know why, but the SpaceNavy is chasing after me."
"Alright, Tonto." Tex started up the engine. "Put your boots in the stirrups, partner. This horse is ready to fly, and I don't want you to get bucked off."
"Stop!" Kiman screamed as Silver backed out of her slip and drifted down toward the repair bay doors.
"Clear the bay," a mechanical voice announced. "Doors opening in three, two, one."
Kiman bolted back to his own plane and rang Sam on his cell.
"We've got to go! Sam, we need to follow a plane. It's important. The fate of the Empire may rest upon it."
"Sure," Sam replied, and waved at Sara, who was busy playing Skeeball in the space station's arcade.
Sam had won her a stuffed toy dog by grasping it with a wire claw, and it had only taken seventeen coins for him to get it right.
Spaceplane 2220 was still being repaired, so it took about four hours before they were ready to go. Some of the faults were still alarming, and the repair tech warned them of potential dangers, but Kiman insisted they couldn't wait due to an emergency.
Once outside the repair bay's doors, Sam and Kiman scanned the stars for Old Silver. Even though the ancient plane was much slower, it had gained a formidable lead. By the time they thought they had it on their scan, it was in another sector.
"Don't you think we ought to head to the Capital Planet first?" Sam asked. "We'll leave Sara with her grandparents and then we can request permission to resume the chase."
"No," Kiman decided, unequivocally. "If we don’t go after that plane now, we may never find it again."
"Ok." Sam shrugged and studied the course track Kiman had plotted for him. "I don’t get what's so important about it anyway. It looks like they're headed to Psi Upsilon IV."
"Remember when I asked you about your uncle and the Empress and the baby that she had? Well, that baby is on the spaceplane we're chasing after."
"Stevie?"
"No!" Kiman snapped. "The other, the one she must have had when she was being held by the Alliance."
Sam wrinkled his nose and looked askance. "You're kidding, right? This is some kind of a joke."
"No." Kiman slowly shook his head. "I'm dead serious about this. Keep looking. I'm going aft to make a call."
If it was anyone but Kiman, Sam would have laughed and called him crazy. It was ridiculous to think that Stevie had a brother out here in space. How could one be the Imperial Prince and the other fly around in an ancient wreck? On the other hand, Stevie had also liked pretending he wasn't who he was.
Sam remembered the moment he found out his best friend was the Imperial Prince. It was just after the Emperor's birthday party to which they had all been invited. That was the one that was held at Raven's football game. Stevie had disappeared during the fourth quarter while Sam and their roommate Lenny, Lenny's brother, and Kiman, who was still on crutches, were walking around the stands. They were looking for Stevie, who at that moment, was sitting with Hannah.
"We're going out for ice cream," Stevie announced, his arm already on Hannah's waist.
"Ice cream sounds good." Sam had nodded excitedly. "I've got my lactose intolerance pills right here in my pocket."
"We want beer," Lenny's brother said.
"Beer flavored ice cream," Lenny agreed. "With chopped up bacon on top and whipped cream." The two of them shoved each other around thinking they were funny.
"Do you want us to bring you back something?" Sam had asked, turning to Kiman. "It might be too far for you to walk."
"I need to go with you." Kiman had insisted. "I'm still on duty."
"Duty? We're all on shore leave for the party,” Sam had replied.
"It's alright, Kiman," Steve had said. "I think I'll be safe enough with all of these guys around. If not, I've got Doctor Hannah to patch me up."
"Yes, Sir." Kiman had nodded and then, bowed in an awkward way. He winked at Sam as he lifted his crutches and limped back to the party.
It was then that Sam realized what should have been obvious all along. Stevie didn't just look like the prince, or that guy on that game show on the vid. Stevie really was the Imperial Prince, Shika de Kudisha.
"Fricking, fricking!" Sam had slapped his head. “That explains so much.”
"I knew it," Hannah had groaned. "I've dated every other de Kudisha."
"Huh?" Lenny turned to his brother. "What's the deal?"
Sam considered what it would mean if there was another prince around. In fact, Sam was so lost in thought, he didn’t realize his plane was being tracked. Even as he was following Old Silver, Marik and his pilot were tailing Spaceplane 2220, although, not a single one of them except for Tex had any idea where they were all going.
"Treasure hunting," Tex laughed to himself as the stars aligned and set everyone on course. Then, he leaned back in his chair and lit a fresh Marlboro.
Chapter 18
Luci Korelesk hadn't a clue what was going on. It seemed everyone around her had gone mad. Berkan was working all day and half the night. When he should have been sleeping, he was pacing the floor mumbling about tax audits and babies.
Angelica was another story.
She did nothing but lie around eating chocolate Bon Bons and greasy French fries. She had grown a little bit chubby, and her skin had broken out in spots. Her hair was looking stringy and very unkempt.
"Would you like to go back to Cyganus?" Luci asked, wringing her hands and wondering if she ought to order some new gowns in a larger size or two. "Surely, you are missing your mum and your Cyganian friends?"
"No," Angelica insisted, flicking through the channels on the vid. "I'm really quite happy here in Mishnah. I'll just stay with you, Grandmama, until the Imperial Prince decides to marry me."
"Shika? Marry you? That’s bloody insane," Luci said aloud. "Whatever gave you that idea? He's nearly your father's age."
"Oh Grandmama," Angelica scoffed. "You just don't understand the politics of love."
Luci certainly didn't understand, and neither did she want to. Frankly, imagining Angelica with Shika made Luci's stomach retch. She'd rather have her granddaughter walking around half naked with a rock star again. Seeing her lackadaisical like this made Luci want to slap the girl silly.
"Get up," she yelled, once or twice. Luci's blood began to boil as her heart began to pound, an unusual event for Luci's calm demeanor. "You should be going back to school. You can't just lie around getting fat."
"Grandpapa says it's okay," Angelica retorted. "And, you're not exactly one to talk about being fat. I mean, have you looked in the mirror lately, Grandmama? One of you is the size as three of me."
Luci almost did slap the girl, but decided it was better just to walk away. She had never been a violent person, although frequently now, she was feeling compelled to lash out. Something had changed deep within her psyche. Luci wanted to own a gun. At night, she dreamt about shooting someone in the head. Once she woke up with her finger between Berkan's eyes.
She didn't mean it, Luci assured herself while she admired the Empress's Glock. If the Empress was in a better frame of mind, Luci might have asked her for advice. Unfortunately, since all activities were cancelled, Luci was bored and quite restless. Could it be that this was where her homicidal tendencies emanated from?
When the Emperor recovered, and things got back to normal, Luci assured herself these thoughts would go away. She would laugh at the murderous inclinations that plagued her at night and sometimes during the day. That was assuming by then, she wasn't dead or permanently incarcerated for double murder.
After the little spat with Angelica that morning, Luci went off to the office for lack of something else to do with her time.
"I'm so glad you're here," Shelly cried, looking up from her vid. She had been playing Tetris again, and it was driving her crazy. When she closed her eyes at night, all she saw was falling shapes, and in the morning, her first thought was, 'Which level'? First came the red zig zag, followed by the orange stick and after that the blue thing that was shaped like a T. Lastly, the yellow zig zag fell when she needed it most. "Any news?"
"None at all," Luci replied, sitting down at her own desk which for the first time had no papers piled on top.
She got up again and made herself a cup of tea foregoing the biscuits and glazed donuts on the tray. Angelica's remark had cut her to the core, and in her present frame of mind, she found it rather hard to ignore. However, Luci decided she needed a bit of sugar, which hardly had any calories at all. Without the biscuit or donut, her tea was none too sweet.
"Have you got any packets?" Luci turned to Shelly.
"Sorry," Shelly replied, staring blindly at her screen. "I'm all out, although Katie should have some in her desk. She prefers that artificial kind, even though it's supposed to poison your liver."
"I'll just go check," Luci declared and went into the Empress's office.
Luci opened the desk drawer and shuffled around. She found two yellow packets, as well as one of Katie's Glocks. Luci touched it lightly with her finger.
"Oh Shelly." It was Berkan, his voice echoed from the next office. "I need your assistance if you wouldn't mind. Are you able to access the personnel records for the Palace?"
"Sure," Shelly replied, clicking a yellow zig zag. Unfortunately, she clicked too slow leaving a large gap on row seven. Shelly was on level nine, and the shapes were falling at a tremendous rate of speed. "Damn!" Shelly cried as she was once again knocked out of the game.
"Thank you, Shelly," Berkan said with a slight bow of his head, although Luci couldn't see that from where she listened.
She had her ear right next to the door, her curiosity piqued as high as it would go. After all, there was no reason for Berkan to be asking Shelly such a question. He had his own staff at his disposal who could query all of the very same things, unless he didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing.
Even though Shelly had been on the Imperial Staff for nearly ten years, she was still a little fuzzy on the protocols.
"I am searching for a nurse," Berkan continued, "Who works in the hospital wing. She looked fairly young, brown hair, hazel eyes, upturned nose, and tiny gold earrings." Shelly brought up all the records on her screen and turned it so Berkan could see the faces. "Ah yes, that is her, Nily, second row, third one in. Would you mind printing out the girl's address for me?"
Of course, Shelly didn't mind at all. For a minute, she could focus on something other than that blasted game. She created a piece of paper that read Staff Building 17, unit 34, and handed it to Berkan with a smile.
"Is there anything else that I can do you for you?" She asked, already anticipating the orange bars and the red zig zags falling down.
"No, thank you." Berkan bowed again. Turning for the door, he took a step, but stopped, abruptly. Slowly, he spun back to Shelly. "It would be best," he placed a finger over his mouth, "If you don't tell Luci about that which I have asked. She doesn't need to worry. She's got enough stress already with Angelica, and the Empress, and of course, dear Senya, who may not survive this terrible episode."
"Alright." Shelly nodded. "Don't worry, I won't say a word." By then, Shelly was already back to staring at her game.
Shelly didn't need to say a thing, for Luci had heard it all. Of course, she assumed the worst, as any wife would do. Berkan must be after the nurse for some treatments of his own. Well, he would get a treatment alright, and conveniently, here was Katie's gun.
Berkan had a gun of his own. He knew how to use it since his father had been Captain of the Royal Guards. Berkan had been trained on tin cans and clay disk skeets. His aim wasn't bad, especially when it was at close range. Nily wouldn't stand a chance anywhere in her flat.
While Berkan wasn't generally a homicidal person, he simply could not allow Nily's baby to be born. Only Angelica would bear the Imperial brat. All others must be eliminated as soon as they were known, and Berkan couldn't trust anyone but himself to do the job.
When someone knocked on Nily's door, she was surprised. Nobody ever came to visit her in this tiny flat. She had just returned home from work, and was lying on the sofa as her feet were swollen and red. A turkey TV dinner was cooking on high in the micro, while a game show about contestants on an island played on the vid.
Nily wearily pulled herself to her feet and stumbled across the room on her tired and aching legs. She resolved to take a hot bath right after dinner, then, she'd lie in bed and read until she fell asleep. Tomorrow, she'd work, but the day after was her holiday.
Nily decided to ring her girlfriends, to see if anyone wanted to meet her at the mall. There was a sale going on, and Nily needed a lot of new clothes. Unfortunately, for the girl, she never had that chance to shop. In fact, every day from hence forth, she would be dressed only in her birthday suit.
At the sound of the knock, Nily opened the door to discover the Duke of Korelesk pointing his gun.
"Good evening, Miss," he said. "Is your name Nily?"
"Yes, sir." Nily curtseyed as befitting an Imperial Duke, while hoping that the gun was meant for someone else.
"Might I come in?" Berkan inquired, pushing his way in through the door. He appraised t
he tiny flat before settling on the couch. "Is there anyone else here but you?"
"No, sir," Nily replied, which in hindsight was probably not the best answer. "My roommate works the opposite shift. I'm all alone. Can I get you anything, sir Duke, like a cup of tea?"
"Nothing, Miss," Berkan insisted, waving at her with the gun. "I have come for some information."
Nily wondered what that might be as she didn't know much of anything at all. Well, she did know more or less how to do her job. She also knew how to microwave a TV dinner, and open a can of ravioli, or chicken soup. Speaking of which, the bell on the microwave oven pinged. Automatically, Nily turned to retrieve the tray.
"Stop," Berkan ordered, in a threatening voice. "Don't move a muscle, except to turn around and look at me."
Slowly, Nily did as ordered, although her legs were ready to give out. She held up her arms and wondered if she was under arrest.
"Are you pregnant?" Berkan demanded, rising from the couch. "Tell me the truth. Are you going to bear the Imperial Prince a baby?"
"Yes, sir," Nily cried. "Unfortunately, I am pregnant."
It was right at that moment that Luci arrived on the doorstep. She pushed open the unlocked door to hear Nily's confession, but nothing else.
"Berkan!" Luci screamed, assuming that it was the Duke himself who had sired the brat. All this business about a tax audit surely had to have been a ruse. Luci whipped Katie's Glock from her pocket and waved it in the air. "You lying, cheating bastard. This will be the last time you make a fool of me."
Although, Luci had never used a gun before, she was certain she knew how, just point and pull the trigger. Right?
"Luci!" Berkan shrieked.
"Blessed Saint!" Nily yelled as two shots rang out.
Moments later, two people were dead, and Nily's floor was covered in blood. The turkey dinner was growing cold, and the gravy was congealing. On the vid, the people on the game show were deciding which one of them no longer deserved to play. They selected the enormous Cascadian man, as he was the one who ate the most, and the supplies of food on the island were quickly running out.
