by J. Naomi Ay
"No ideas at all, sir," he protested vehemently. "I have no desire whatsoever to take your place."
"Pity that." I stood up from my desk and stretched as Eberly quickly exited before I might try to convince him otherwise.
Crossing the room to the corner bar, I retrieved the first open bottle I could find. I didn't care what sort of alcohol it was. I merely wanted something to inoculate my brain against any further intrusive thoughts.
"Any word from Taner today?" My father asked as he lumbered in through the door that Eberly had left slightly ajar. Loman was looking well, as tan as his pale Lightie skin could ever be with still a full head of thick white hair. He'd lost a great deal of weight and looked fit and young considering that he was well into his nineties. "Don't drink that stuff, Berk. It's not good for you."
"It's clearing out my arteries," I smirked. "I can feel the plague disappearing as we speak. It's the same as sending a scrub brush down each one. Even you must agree, it's much healthier than chocolate."
"It's not." My father sat down on my sofa after extracting a bottle of mineral water from the same bar. "Drink water, Berk. It's much better for you." Since Mother had passed, Loman had become quite obsessive about his health.
"You are assuming I want to prolong my life," I replied perching on the arm of the same couch. "No, I didn't hear from Taner today. He hasn't spoken to me since I implored him not to quit. Luci and Katie went to visit Caroline who has tasked them with visiting Earth to retrieve something she left there many years ago."
"The Empress going to Earth?" Loman scoffed. "Well that's not going to happen."
"Indeed it is. According to Luci, Taner has already arranged it. Unfortunately, I haven't shared this with my cousin yet. I'm not quite ready to die."
"Come now, Berkan." Loman rose from his seat. "Let's go walk about so you can work off this stress. Who has been appointed as Lord Chamberlain now that Taner has given it up?"
I followed my father out of the office and down the stairs to the courtyard. Taking the lift was strictly prohibited as stairs were an excellent cardio-vascular exercise. It was evening now, and the rains had abated though the ground was still soggy and wet. Loman began to jog, and so I was forced to keep up, panting as I sought to match his pace.
"Garing has taken the position temporarily, although HIM is of the opinion that Taner will return. I suppose this means that Taner will, in fact, return as HIM is not usually wrong."
"Not necessarily," Loman replied as he stopped for a moment to break a few pink rose buds off of a bush. I snatched off a few myself, as it became apparent our destination was the Royal Cemetery just outside the northern gates. "You never know what Senya's thinking. He may tell you one thing just so it shall result in something else."
As we came upon the hollowed grounds, my father laid a rose bud across my mother's grave. Now, Loman put a rose on Princess Lydia's, Queen Moira's and King Yokaa's graves, as well. The last one he laid was on Prince Akan's head stone. Surprisingly, it did not turn immediately to black.
"Why do you honor him?" I had asked him a few times before.
"He was my brother, despite it all," my father said with a whimsical frown. "Pity, we never got along."
I continued to follow Loman through the rest of the park, en route back to the Palace gates. Katie's mother, Charlotte Golden was sitting on a bench on the hill next to the remains of her husband, Manny. The late Duke of Renfort had been removed from his resting place back on Earth only a few years ago. Now, he was interred here with a delightful ocean view and the company of dead Kings, Queens and Princes.
"Good evening, Charlotte," I called, interrupting an animated discussion the Dowager Duchess was having with poor Manny.
"Oh? Hello Berkan, Loman dear." Charlotte waved and rose to her feet. "You had better get inside before it begins to rain. Manny says the weather forecast is for thunderstorms tonight."
"Has he been speaking to Senya?" I wondered.
"Who?" Charlotte called.
"Your son-in-law." Loman winked at me. "He's very good at predicting the weather. Come Charlotte, you also don't want to get wet."
My father held out his arm and waited until Charlotte bid her goodbyes. Then, together they walked back to the Palace.
"Will you be joining me for dinner tonight, Loman?" Charlotte inquired, her voice low and surprisingly seductive.
"With pleasure, Charlotte." My father smiled broadly at the lady.
What had been going on whilst I'd been busy working? Could it be my father and Charlotte…? No, it simply wasn't possible. My father wouldn't…couldn't…would he?
Fortunately, or un, at just that moment, my cell rang with a summons to attend my Great Cousin in his office. I glanced at my phone wondering why at this late hour my cousin would require my presence. Usually, he had retired by now and gone upstairs to dutifully dine with his wife.
Nevertheless, I scurried back through the Palace gates, all the while my mind still questioning my father's sanity. By the time I arrived in the Big House, at the office of the ruler of this entire noble empire, I was thoroughly soaked in both sweat and rain. My heart was pounding heavily in my chest, and my stomach felt as if it just might heave whilst my mind still tried to deny the reality of what I had seen and heard my father do and say.
"Are you alright, Lord Berkan?" Lord Garing asked as he shut the door to the Emperor's office. He was wearing Taner's medallion, as well as Taner's sick expression upon his face.
"Fine, fine," I gasped. "And you, Lord Garing, are you ill?"
"Not yet, sir, but if Taner doesn't come back, I'm certain I shall be." With that, he stumbled away, and so I thrust open the heavy doors.
"Good evening, Sir,” I cried. “Your Imperial Majesty, Most Supreme."
"Hello Berk," my cousin, the Great Emperor said. He was lying on the sofa with his feet propped up, smoking a cigarette and drinking a glass of an alcoholic beverage. A warm fire burned brightly in the hearth, the flames reflecting and casting shadows across the room.
"You summoned me here," I said. "And, here I am. What may I do for you?"
"Our wives are scheming," my cousin announced as he raised his glass to his lips. "Unfortunately, they shan't prepare dinner for either of us. They are hurriedly packing some clothing and supplies whilst thinking of a tale they will spin to pacify us as they venture off to Earth to collect something of their dear friend Caroline's."
"Will you let them go?" I fetched my own alcoholic beverage and sat down to gaze at the fire, as well.
Loman and Charlotte, Luci going to Earth, Caroline dying of a terminal disease. There was much for me to worry about, and this beverage only dulled my stress a little bit.
"I will let them go. Katie is in need of an adventure, and they must do for Caroline this task that she requires."
"Of course, Sir," I replied and glanced at him. "You're not going to do anything rash whilst she is gone?"
"Me?" He laughed and smoked his cig. "Kari-fa, why would I do such a thing? Do you think, I cannot manage a few days without her presence?"
"Well," I began to say.
"I am traumatized already," he interrupted and rose to his feet. "Without her, I am simply incapable of doing anything. I cannot feed myself nor find my clothing, you know. I shall never remember when to wake, or I shall forget entirely to go to sleep. It is only by her direction that I manage to arrive at my office every morning. I believe the way to my flat is to take that stair, but if she doesn't point it out, I shall never recall. Is it only one floor above? If I go two floors by mistake, I shall fall off the roof. Either that, or I shall die of hunger, or exhaustion."
"Ah well. You'll miss her despite what you say. So what shall we do tonight? Is there a crisis we must manage?"
He shook his head and pointed at the vid which lowered itself above the fireplace. "There must be a football game going on somewhere, is there not? We shall order up some food and more to drink. Is Thad in residence today? Ring him and tell him to join us.
We’ll have our own party. We shall consider this a vacation from our wives."
"Alright then," I agreed and summoned Thad.
I ordered all our favorites, hot wings, egg rolls, pizza. We found six games in progress and watched them simultaneously on six vids. By the time, I stumbled drunkenly to my bed, it was well into the early hours of the morning.
Luci was long gone, but a note was left on my pillow. I fell into an exhausted sleep and wasn't concerned for her at all. Rather, I was pleased by our impending separation for though Luci had left, Senya had briefly returned. It had been years since we had a night like tonight when we all just sat around and enjoyed each other's company. Maybe this wouldn't be a bad vacation after all.
Chapter 5
Katie
"Are you sure this ship is safe?" Luci asked, wrinkling her nose as we stared at the freightplane on the guest dock. It was missing a lot of paint and some of the hull had some serious dents and even worse burns. Years as a Vessel Inspector in my previous life immediately alerted me to uncapped, rusted exhaust vents and leaking hull joints.
I walked around and counted the escape pods. There were two, but only one looked operational.
"He would have stopped us if something was going to happen, and we couldn’t come back," I reassured Luci as well as myself. "He would never have let us sneak out if he knew we were going to be killed."
"Are you absolutely sure he knows everything?" Luci looked pale, and her hands trembled nervously. She adjusted the baseball cap she wore over her orange curls. "What if he only thinks he does but then he doesn't really?"
"He does," I insisted and pulled my own cap lower on my face. "He's never wrong. Well, except for that one time when…"
"What?"
"Forget it." I walked back to where we had left our two small pieces of luggage.
Digging through my bag, I pulled out a worn sweat shirt. The bay here was a little chilly, and we were both dressed in just t-shirts and jeans. Luci wore flip flops, and I wore old sneakers. We both had on dark glasses. So far, no one had recognized us or at least that's what we thought. "He would have prevented us from leaving if he really didn't want us to go. The only thing is…"
"What?" Luci interrupted again.
"What if he doesn't want me to come back?" I sat down on my bag. "What if he is tired of me?"
"And the only way to get rid of you is to send you to space and crash your ship again?" Luci cried. "Then he'd be getting rid of me as well, and I haven't done him any harm!"
"No, that can't be it. He wouldn't kill us just because he's grown bored with me. It would have been so much easier to lock me in the Tower or send me off to Andorus or any one of the other planets. Furthermore, my mom's still in Mishnah. If he intended to get rid of me, he most certainly would have sent her along, too."
"No," Luci replied, sitting down on her own bag. "Charlotte is protected because of Loman."
"What does that mean?"
"Oh!" Luci's face got as red as the hair hidden under the cap. "You don't know, do you?"
"What?"
"Well, now…" She blushed even more if that was possible. "I swore to Charlotte I'd never tell anyone. Not even Berkie knows, although Loman may have spilled the beans by now and Berkie didn't tell me because he thought I didn't know."
"Luci!" I cried and jumped to my feet. "What is my mother doing with Loman?"
"They're having a bit of an affair," Luci giggled. "Can you imagine that?"
"No!" I gasped. "I can't imagine that at all. I don't want to imagine that. Ewww! Are you serious?"
"Yes," Luci smiled, "it's been going on for a month or two. Both of them seem quite chipper, although with Charlotte, you never know. She's always chipper, isn't she? Except when she's a bit mad, of course."
"That's insane. I don't even want to think about that." I shook my head and tried to banish the picture in my brain of my mother and Loman sharing the same bed.
"Well, don't then." Luci shrugged. "Although, if it makes you feel any better, Charlotte insists that poor Manny is quite alright with the arrangement. In fact, she said that Manny said that…"
"Don't tell me," I barked and covered my ears. "I've heard enough. This is the kind the thing you don't want your children to know about even if your children are approaching their own golden years."
"I suppose that's true," Luci agreed just as a man arrived in the neighboring lift.
He was holding a paper sack with the golden arches printed on the side, and slurping a giant sized solo cup of blue soda. He looked familiar with his faded blonde crew cut and his short stocky body. He had a weight lifter's build and a swaggering bow legged walk as if he spent more time on a horse or a motorcycle than flying across the stars. His complexion was pale and pasty white which indicated a spaceman's deficiency in vitamin D.
"Zork?" I called. "Scott Black, is that you?"
"If that's you, Goldie, then this is me."
"Do you know him?" Luci asked now rising to her feet.
I ran to give Zork a hug just for calling me Goldie. How many years had it been since, we were together at the Spaceforce Academy and I was just an ordinary girl from Earth? Maybe, this trip was going to be just the break that I needed, as well as a way to help Caroline.
"So you're taking us to Earth, Zork? Will this old rust bucket be able to make the trip?"
"Of course, Goldie." He sucked his soda with an arm still around my waist. "The only thing is the refrigeration system has gone bad, so if you want to eat for the next three days, you better run up and buy yourselves some burgers."
"Oh no," Luci gasped and looked fearfully at me.
"No worries, Luci," I insisted. "Let's go shopping while Zork gets ready."
"Be back in twenty minutes." Zork gave my butt a little pat. "You're looking sharp there, Goldie. It'll be a pleasure having you aboard."
"Keep your hands off the…" Luci started to say, but I pulled her arm instead.
"See you soon, Zork. Can we pick up anything else for you?"
"I'm good." He lifted his bag to show us. "I've got twenty orders of extra-large fries, but if you happen to come across a case of beer, we can always use another."
Zork grabbed our bags while Luci and I headed up the restaurant deck.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Luci said. "I don’t like his ship, and I don't like his attitude, and I'm not going to eat French fries and beer for three days. I don't see why we couldn't just go in one of our own planes. We could have taken an SdK plane, if not one from the Imperial SpaceNavy."
"Remember Luci, we're doing this without permission. HIM couldn't sanction this without an official request to the Alliance and a visa to travel to Earth. Sending one of our spaceplanes over there could have been interpreted as an act of aggression. It’s much better he pretends he doesn't know anything."
Boy, that sounded good, and I just made it up on the spot. Maybe, that was the real reason he let us sneak away.
"You're really not worried about that decrepit freightplane?"
"Nah," I replied and ordered a bunch of salads, yogurt and cheese.
"I'd really like a burger," Luci said quietly. "I don't eat them very often, you know."
"And a burger," I yelled to the attendant droid. "Two chocolate milkshakes, large fries. No, Luci. I'm not worried. Zork and I go way back. It's not our usual standard of travel, but hey, it might be kind of fun. Even this is fun." I waved at the shopping arcade and the droid packing our food. "How long has been since we got to do something normal like this? I get to order for myself. I get to carry my own bag. It's like being a person again."
"I won't wait on you at all then." Luci grabbed her bag.
"Please don't and if you call me Madame, I'm not going to respond."
We got back to Zork's ship without any further interruption and set our stuff down in one of the guest cabins in the aft. There were two small cots, and an even smaller ensuite head. Luci sniffed and frowned and then sat down on her bed, bouncing a little to
test the mattress.
"This reminds me of my first flat in New Mishnah." She took off her cap and shook out her mane of long orange curls. "I hated it."
"This is three times larger than my first cabin assignment on the Discovery," I replied. "And I loved it."
"Have you any idea how we shall accomplish this task?" Luci picked up a milkshake and started sipping it, while the ship's engines began to groan. "Do you know where we should start?"
Pulling out my tablet, I loaded up the map of the Northeastern Territory of what had long ago being the United States. "Let's try Sherrilyn," I suggested. "Since that's where the package was originally left. She lives somewhere near the southern shore of Lake Erie. We'll have Zork leave us at the moonbase and then shuttle down to Earth where we can rent a car. You'll get to see parts of Middle America while we drive. It'll be an old fashion road trip, you and me, just like Thelma and Louise."
"Who?"
"Actually, now that I think about it, maybe not."
"Alright." Luci shrugged, tentatively dipping her fries in ketchup.
That was an Earth thing, ketchup. Nobody on Rehnor had ever heard of it, until I came and introduced it to them. That was going to be my greatest legacy. The Empress Katie would be remembered forever for having brought ketchup to the people as well as occasionally restraining the Great Emperor when he attempted to off someone.
"Hey, Goldie?" Zork knocked on the door. He cracked it open, and stuck in his head. "I know you're paying big bucks for this pleasure cruise and all, but if you wouldn't mind, darling, I could use some assistance."
"Don't you have any other crew?" Luci looked up with alarm.
"Nope, just me and Andy, my droid," Zork replied proudly. "Goldie can help out. I might even reduce your fare a little bit. Either that or I'll give you some extra benefits." He winked suggestively, prompting Luci to scowl. "You've still got a pilot's license right, Captain? You remember the way to Earth?"
"Absolutely." I jumped up and tossed the French fries aside. "It's been years since I've flown but it's like riding a bike."
