I

by Jake Bible

  “Ask and you shall receive,” Alexis chuckled.

  “The master was on his way there now,” Derrick said. “Please hurry back and inform them the master will need his wound attended to.”

  “His wound? No, my lord, it is the mistress!” the porter nearly shouted. “That is why the physicians need you! They say there are complications with the birth and the midwife will not let them take control!”

  “Oh, dear Helios!” Alexis exclaimed. “Rick! Help me there now!”

  * * *

  “Master Alexis?”

  Silence.

  “Master Alexis? We must take him now.”

  The nurse stood to the side of the monarch, her eyes watching carefully as the man held the body of his stillborn infant boy.

  “Did he suffer, do you think?” Alexis asked as he slowly took a deep breath and handed the body to the nurse. “Did he feel it when he died?”

  “I...I don’t know, your highness,” the nurse replied as she took the swaddled corpse from his hands.

  “He did not suffer,” the midwife said as she came from the bedchamber and into the main area of the royal quarters. She quickly walked to a sink and began to scrub her hands of the blood and afterbirth that coated her skin. “The umbilical cord became wrapped about his throat. He died peacefully from a lack of oxygen to the brain. It was as if he went to sleep.”

  “But he never had a chance to be born and awake!” Alexis roared. He stood and stormed over to the woman, his frame towering over her. “How can he have gone to sleep if he never woke up to begin with?”

  “It was like sleep, but not sleep itself,” the midwife replied, not intimidated by the brutally tall monarch who quaked before her with grief driven rage. “But your question was whether he suffered, and I can swear on Helios that he did not.”

  “To shit with Helios!” Alexis shouted. “The Planet, the Star, the System and the God himself! The Dear Parent abandoned me this day so I will abandon him!”

  The nurse gasped and the midwife turned a cold gaze to her. The woman quickly left the quarters, ready to deliver the small body to the station’s gatekeepers for ointment before burial. Once the nurse was gone, the midwife looked up into the mad eyes of her master.

  “Would you like to see your wife?” she asked, a hand going to the master’s arm.

  Two royal guards moved from the wall and stepped towards her, but hesitated the second she looked at them.

  “I have stopped the bleeding and she is resting, but I believe the comfort of her husband will be the best medicine right now,” the midwife said. “For her body as well as her soul.”

  “Yes...yes, of course,” Alexis said, the anger leaving him as quickly as it came. He looked towards the bedchamber, feeling lost and adrift.

  “Here, let me help you,” the woman said as she gripped his arm and led the man towards the door. “Comfort her, share her grief, be with her now. Be for her now. She has lost a part of herself and will need your love to replace that.”

  “Right…” Alexis said as he opened the door. He stopped before entering and looked down at the midwife. “None of this will be easy for you. The physicians will try to convince me this is your fault.”

  The midwife studied the master’s face and nodded.

  “And do you believe it is?” she asked.

  “No, I do not,” Alexis said. “Children die all the time in this station with physicians present. Yet their abilities are never questioned. I will not question yours if you can assure me you did everything within your power.”

  “I assure you I did,” the midwife said, pushing him forward into the room. “The health of the child always comes first, then the mother’s.” She nodded towards the woman covered in blankets and comforters in the bed before her and the master. “I will remain outside for the rest of the night in case she starts bleeding again. Call me for any reason. I am here for you as well.”

  Alexis nodded and stumbled forward as the midwife quietly closed the door behind him.

  “Al?” Eliza’s weak voice called from the bed. “My love?”

  “It’s me,” Alexis said as he made his way to the bed and climbed in next to her.

  His hands hovered above her form, afraid to touch her and cause her any distress. Eliza reached back and wrapped him around her, moaning in pain as his forearm brushed her abdomen.

  “I’m hurting you,” Alexis said.

  “No, you could never hurt me,” Eliza whispered. “Never.”

  Alexis buried his face in her hair and held back his tears.

  “Was he beautiful?” Eliza asked. “Like you?”

  “No,” Alexis replied, the tears refusing to obey as they slide down his cheeks. “He was beautiful like you. Even the Dear Parent pales in his beauty.”

  “Hush,” Eliza said. “Don’t blaspheme.”

  “It is a day of blasphemy when our son does not get to live,” Alexis said, his chest hitching with sobs. “I cannot say or do anything worse than what has already been done.”

  “Then say or do nothing at all,” Eliza said. “Just hold me and warm me.”

  The two parents lay there, souls battered by grief, bodies entwined in order to cling to some small comfort of life.

  * * *

  “This is not a good idea,” Derrick said, standing at his brother’s side as the lift slowly took them down through Sector Kirke’s main levels to the first of the subterranean decks. “You’re still grieving, still healing, and should be home with your family, not on a tour to drum up support for something you’ve already decreed is happening. What do you hope to accomplish?”

  “The passengers need to know I’m not just the monarch of the stewards,” Alexis said. “They have to know I’m for the people as well. No one will trust or believe in the meeting of passengers if I don’t do this. When was the last time Father toured the decks other than to figure out how to tear them apart and rebuild them?”

  “He could have cared less about the passengers,” Derrick replied. “I see your point.”

  “But will the passengers see your point?” Stolt asked, standing behind the two royals. “They are used to hearing opinions, not being asked for theirs.”

  “Then I’ll be the first,” Alexis said. “As my great grandfather did when he signed the Bill of Meeting, giving the stewards a say in the overall governance of Station Aelon, so I will give the passengers a say by including them in that Bill.”

  “Don’t misunderstand me, your highness,” Stolt said. “I know why you are doing it, and you are about to explain that why to the people themselves, but my question is will they see the point of it? Will they care, is what I am getting at.”

  “I’d be surprised if they don’t,” Alexis responded. “What man or woman doesn’t care about their voice being heard?”

  “Men and women that have never been asked before,” Stolt replied. “Ask a man who has never experienced planetary gravity which he prefers and he will always say station gravity. But we all know that no matter how well the rotational drive does in creating artificial gravity for each station, there is nothing like the feel of gravity on Helios. It is solid and better for our bodies. But the station bound passenger does not know that.”

  “That’s your metaphor?” Derrick laughed. “Gravity?”

  “I thought it fitting,” Stolt smiled. “Considering the gravity of this endeavor.”

  Alexis grinned at the pun, but shook his head.

  “This tour may be so the stewards see the point as much as the passengers,” Alexis said. “We all have a lot to learn from each other.”

  “Then why do you wear your blades?” Stolt asked. “Long and short. What exactly do you expect to learn if you need those?”

  “I insisted, my lord,” Corbin said from the front of the lift, his body blocking the doors, ready to take point with the security detail when they reached the deck. “There has been some unrest on the decks due to the high casualties passengers suffered during the planetary conflict.”

&n
bsp; “The people don’t want to die for us,” Stolt said. “So why would they want to lead with us?”

  “Because they will have the choice to for once,” Alexis said. “And because I plan on apologizing to them for the unnecessary loss of the lives of their loved ones. In the end, it was discussion and compromise that won out. So it will with the meetings.”

  “Apologize?” Derrick said. “Has a master ever apologized to his people before? The master of station’s word is supreme, second only to Helios. He never has to apologize.”

  “I’m a monarch of many firsts then,” Alexis said.

  He looked about the lift and frowned. It was nothing but a metal cage with thin sheet metal sides over the heavy duty safety mesh. The lighting was dim and made his head hurt while the ride itself could be considered nothing but jarring.

  “One of my other firsts will be to upgrade the lift systems in the station,” Alexis said. “There are how many lifts and sub-lifts?”

  “Not counting the ones within the stewards’ estates? Close to a hundred,” Derrick said. “Father had looked at redesigning them but decided he’d start with the decks themselves.”

  “Sound thinking,” Alexis said. “No point in upgrading something that’s going to get beat to all Helios transporting supplies and construction crews.”

  “Or only serves to move passengers from one deck to the next,” Stolt said. “I rarely use a deck lift at all. I make sure my subjects come to me above. As it should be.”

  Alexis looked about and found the lift operator sitting silently in the corner, his hand poised near the brake and throttle controls.

  “Excuse me, what is your name?” Alexis asked, pushing past Derrick and the royal guards to stand next to the operator.

  The man looked as if he would faint and die right then. His eyes grew wide and he instantly got off the stool to kneel before the master. Alexis shook his head and grabbed the operator by the shoulders which elicited a small squeak from the man.

  “Relax,” Alexis laughed. “I just want your opinion and expertise regarding the lift.”

  “Yes, your highness,” the man stammered. “Anything you need, your highness.”

  “The lift is powered by the main Vape generators like the rest of the station, correct?” Alexis asked.

  “He’s an operator, your highness,” Stolt smirked. “Not an engineer. He makes it go up and down. He doesn’t know why or how it does it.”

  The operator’s eyes moved to Steward Stolt and he nodded, but Alexis could see the hint of disagreement in the man’s face.

  “You do know how the lifts work, don’t you?” Alexis asked. “It’s alright to disagree with a steward when the master is present. In fact, I’d prefer that you did.”

  The man turned his full attention on Alexis and smiled. “Yes, your highness, I know how the lifts work. There’s been a lift operator in my family going back twenty generations now,” the man said. “I’m very familiar with their engineering as well as operation.”

  “So they are powered by the Vape generators then?” Alexis asked.

  “Yes and no, your majesty,” the operator said. “While their main power source is the electricity generated by the combustion of Vape gas within the station’s power plant, there are also auxiliary canisters embedded within the floor that connect to backup generators should the main power fail and anyone finds themselves trapped in a lift.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Derrick said. “But I’ve never been trapped in a lift.”

  “That’s interesting,” Alexis said, glancing sideways at Steward Stolt. “Backup generators in the lifts. They must have to be inspected because of disuse. I can’t remember the last time there was a station wide power outage.”

  The man smiled, but Alexis could see the insincerity.

  “Am I wrong?”

  “No, your highness, never,” the operator said looking like he wished for nothing more than to sit on his stool and become invisible once again.

  “I am, I can see it in your eyes,” Alexis said. “When was the last power outage?”

  “Just a couple of days ago, your highness,” the man nearly whispered.

  “There was?” Alexis asked, puzzled. He looked to his brother. “Did you know about it?”

  “Power never wavered in Quent,” Derrick said. He turned to Stolt. “Any issues here in Sector Kirke?”

  The steward glared hard at the lift operator then looked at Alexis. “There has had to be rationing of power throughout the sectors. Until we know for sure that The Way will honor the Prime Treaty, the stewards decided that rolling blackouts from the lower decks up was wise. Of course, now that our master is safely back in the station, and has assured us of the strength of the Prime Treaty, there won’t be any need of the rationing.”

  “When in Helios did the stewards decide that?” Derrick snapped. “I was acting regent and not one word of this reached my ears.”

  “It was a sector by sector decision,” Stolt replied. “It did not need regency approval. It just happened that all stewards decided the same course.”

  “Are you bloody kidding me?” Alexis barked. “I’m going on a tour of the sectors to garner the support and goodwill of the passengers and you didn’t think I should know that there have been periodic blackouts for the decks? It’ll be a wonder they don’t string us up the second we step off this lift!”

  “I will make sure they don’t get within an inch of you, your highness,” Corbin said. “I’ll die before I let them string you up.”

  “You may well die if they string you up first, Corbin,” Alexis growled. “Cousin Stolt, this will not stand. Any other decisions the stewards have made that I should know about?”

  “Not that I can think of,” Stolt replied.

  “Well, perhaps you should think harder, steward,” Alexis responded, his voice cold and deadly.

  “I’ll do my best, your highness,” Stolt nodded, bowing slightly. “And you have my humble apologies. I will make sure the word is spread to the other stewards that rationing power is no longer the will of nobility.”

  Alexis struggled to regain his composure and it took all of his strength not to lash out at the smug steward. By the time the lift slowed and then stopped, Alexis had gotten the rage under control and took a deep breath as the doors slid to the side and Corbin and his men stepped out to secure the immediate area.

  “Clear, your highness,” Corbin said. “If you will follow me.”

  “Thank you, Corbin,” Alexis said. “But I will be fine. Which deck are we on?”

  “Middle Deck Twenty, sire,” Corbin replied. “I believe the deck boss’s name is Gornish Wyaerrn.”

  Stolt snorted from behind the master.

  “Something you’d like to share?” Alexis asked.

  “You’ll see, your highness,” Stolt smiled. “Mr. Wyaerrn is quite the individual, as you will find out soon enough.”

  “Intriguing,” Alexis said. “I look forward to meeting him.”

  “This way, sire,” Corbin said as he led the master and his entourage from the lift corridor and out into the main atrium of Middle Deck Twenty.

  The space was enormous. A massive cavern of metal and polybreen plastics, the atrium had three levels to it, each level jammed with people, all bargaining and haggling in front of merchant carts over food and other wares. Most of the surfaces of the atrium were coated with the same drab grey paint as the rest of Station Aelon, but the banisters at the edges of the levels and stairways were painted in the deep blue and dark red of the Teirmont crest.

  Slowly, on a wave of gossip, word spread that the master was on deck and the atrium began to quiet down. Faces turned away from the haggling and looked down at the master, showing a mixture of fear and awe, support and contempt.

  “All kneel for Master of Station Aelon, Alexis the First!” Corbin announced.

  As one the people took a knee, but their eyes never left the master’s.

  “Please rise,” Alexis called out. “While I thank y
ou for your courtesy, I am not here to interrupt your lives, but only to observe them and speak with your deck boss. Please carry on with your day.”

  No one moved.

  “The master said to carry on!” Corbin shouted.

  “Corbin, be nice,” Alexis said. “I doubt many of these folks have seen their own steward, let alone master of station.”

  Stolt caught the barb, but did not react to it.

  A portly man hurried towards the group, a long box in his hands, trailed by six women that seemed to be talking to the man all at once.

  “Yes, I know, I know!” the man snapped. “Let it be!”

  The man skidded to a stop, almost toppling against the barrier of Corbin and his guards. He looked past the armed men and smiled at the master.

  “It is an honor, your highness,” the man said. “To have a master visit our humble deck is nothing short of a miracle.” The women behind him hissed. “I mean, not that it takes a miracle for the master of station to visit amongst his people. I was never implying that—”

  “The honor is mine, sir,” Alexis interrupted. “And you are…?”

  “Gornish Wyerrn, your highness,” Gornish said as he bowed so low that he had to be helped back upright by two of the women. “Deck boss of Middle Deck Twenty, at your service.”

  “I see you have something there, Gornish. Is it a gift?” Alexis asked.

  “Yes, it is, sire!” Gornish exclaimed and tried to move forward, but was stopped by Corbin.

  “Let him through,” Alexis ordered. “I’d like the deck boss to present the, well, present to me himself.”

  “Thank you, sire!” Gornish said as he squeezed through the ranks of the reluctant guards. “This is something I know you will find marvelous! I have been trying to get it before Steward Stolt, but he—”

  “Just open the box, man,” Stolt snapped. “The master doesn’t have all day.”

  Alexis frowned at the steward, but let it go and nodded to the deck boss.

  “Please. I’m dying to see what it is,” Alexis said.

  Gornish knelt and set the long box on the ground. He opened it quickly and pulled out what was inside, holding it out to the master with both hands.