by Seven Steps
Kiln pushed him hard in the shoulder, and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
Bruno accepted the unsaid communication, and smiled back.
“Til tomorrow, Prax.”
Yes, Kiln thought. Til tomorrow.
~()~()~()~()~
Haggarty’s sharp gaze focused in on Kiln as the Head of Domestic Affairs, a gray-headed man named Sand, spoke about the shortage in the women’s barracks.
Kiln couldn’t help but stare back.
King Haggarty, his father, sat in a wheelchair on the other side of a video screen. Though he was clearly wasting away, his eyes were still clear, his mind sharp. He was dressed in the typical Martian garment. His black shirt showed off his bony frame. His red pants were pressed and clean.
My father.
“If the rate of decline continues, we will only have half of the necessary rations we need to sustain our population.”
Sand looked at Haggarty, who only had eyes for Kiln. Around them were the other five members of the king’s cabinet.
“What do you think, Prax?” Haggarty asked, his voice sounding dry but strong. “What suggestions do you have for increasing the ration population?”
Haggarty, or Haggy as the men fondly called him, was a nearing his eighties, with hair still in the midst of turning from blonde to white, worn in a single plait down his back.
Kiln cleared his throat. He knew Praxis’ stance on domestic and inter-planetary policy. After all, he’d been studying the man for days. He looked away from his father to his younger brother, watching him carefully from across the table.
“Well, um,” Kiln cleared his throat and sat up straight. “I believe that a trade with the Venians could-”
The room exploded with gasp.
“Trade with the Venians?” Haggarty declared. “Prax, you’ve been against trade with the Venians for decades.”
“We can’t sustain our population. The Venians have offered to trade with us. We have to take them up on their offer.”
The men looked from Kiln to the king.
Haggarty gestured for silence around the table. “My son has adjusted his stance. Give him time to explain himself.”
“They’ve needed slaves since the civil war. We need... uh... rations. If we trade, and create equilibrium-”
“What war do you speak of?”
“Arees has wiped out most of the male population on the planet through a civil war. Jun-Su is in charge of Venus now.”
“How do you know this?”
Kiln hesitated. “My sources tell me.”
“You have spies on Venus?”
Kiln nodded. “Yes.”
“And how long has this been going on?”
Twenty years.
“Years.”
Another gasp.
“We have been losing out on valuable information for twenty years? Why would you keep such a thing from me?”
“Well, nothing happened that we could have used.”
“And this war?”
“It’s just ended.”
“And how did it end?”
“Magistrate Embrya intervened. She banished Czarina Arees and Jun-Su took over.”
“Jun-Su?” Haggarty whispered. He stroked his beard, then looked out over the room. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Kiln looked at Boikis, who didn’t look back at him.
“My King,” Boikis said, standing. “The Prince has commanded me to bring the Countess Jun-Su to Mars in hopes that the trade could be established quickly.”
Haggarty sputtered. “Is this true, Praxis?” He demanded. “You would bring that Venian whore to my planet without consulting me? You consult Barkas?”
“Boikis, your majesty.”
“How dare you correct the King,” someone cried out.
Boikis kept his eyes on the screen, ignoring it.
“I know who you are,” Haggarty growled. He turned back to Kiln. “I am to be consulted on all inter-planetary politics, Praxis. Is that clear?”
“Yes, father.”
“Father. Puh!” Haggarty waved at the camera. “We will deal with this matter privately. Leave us. All of you.”
The room filled with shuffles of paper and feet as the rest of the men scrambled to follow the king’s orders.
When the room had cleared, and the door closed, Haggarty placed both hands in his lap.
“You seem different. Are you feeling all right?”
Kiln nodded, trying not to wilt under his father’s scrutiny. “I’m fine.”
Haggarty clicked his tongue. “You really have made a drastic change today. Allying with the Venians. You have hated them for years.”
“The Venians are a valuable asset.”
“Really? Just the other day you called them blood thirsty witches.”
“I’ve had certain realizations since then.”
“Would you mind explaining them?”
“Well, with the shortage in women’s barracks and Jun-Su’s offer, uh, we can get back on track if we ally with them.”
“Ally with them? If what you say is true, then they are at their weakest. If we attack now, they’d be defenseless.”
What?
“I don’t know if that’s the best idea. We want to trade for the women peacefully. If we attack them outright, they may choose suicide instead of a life here.”
Haggarty shook his head. “Do you think that there are men on this planet who will submit themselves to being slaves?”
“Perhaps we don’t ask. Perhaps we mandate it.”
“And after this, after the slave trade? Then what?”
“Well, their technology is superior to ours. Their domes must be better. Perhaps we can trade for those things?”
“It’s like I’m talking to a different person,” Haggarty scoffed. “Like I’m talking to Barkas.”
If only you knew.
“The last time we had a Venian on this planet, it didn’t end well. She played us for fools, parading around and chasing after Barkas, then leaving like she did. Nothing came out of it.”
“This time would be different.”
Haggarty stroked his beard again. “I don’t like it, but I will take this into consideration.”
Kiln let out a breath. The battle was half over. Once the King agreed to see Jun-Su, then...
“How’d the pre-draft meeting go?” Haggarty asked.
“It went well.”
“Are you playing this week?”
“Yes, father. I believe so.”
“Good. Good. I enjoy watching you play,” he leaned back in his bed, a small smile settling on his face. “It makes me remember my war days. Running down the field. Making the goal just as the ball explodes. Incredible time. I brought our father so much honor. And now, I get to watch you play, my son. And some day, you too will watch your son play.”
My son?
“Yes father.”
“Father, don’t be so formal. Since when did you stop calling me Haggy?”
“Haggy, yes.” Kiln pointed to his head. “I bumped my head this morning. I, uh-”
The king frowned. “Bumped your head? Why didn’t you say something? Go see my personal physician. I want to make sure that you get the best treatment.”
“Yes, Haggy.”
“I’ll have him report to me first thing in the morning.”
“Yes, Haggy.”
“And start getting those breeding houses filled out. I want a grandson before I die. Are you still seeing that Melu girl?”
Kiln shook his head. “Um, yes.”
“Good. Hurry up and get her pregnant. I need to make sure that our lineage is secure before I die.”
He broke into a coughing fit, and a hand appeared next to him, handing him a cup of water.
“You should rest, Haggy.”
“Rest. Puh! I’m fine!”
“Would it be alright if I saw you later?” Kiln asked. “You can tell me more about your father.”
Haggarty smiled, a
genuine smile of a loving father to his son. “Since when did you need to ask to come see an old goat like me?”
Kiln tried to keep his breath even, tried to keep his heart from racing.
“I’ll be by tonight for dinner.”
The king grunted his approval, reached forward and the screen went blank.
Kiln sat back in his chair, and let out a breath.
I have a father. A father who loves me.
“You look like your idiot brother,” Boikis said from the doorway.
Kiln watched him walk back into the room and take a seat across the table. There was a defeat in his face, a sadness. For a moment, Kiln felt sorry for the man.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know what it’s like to feel like your invisible.”
Boikis ground his teeth. “He never gets my name right. It’s always Barkas or Barakas or Boy. My name is Boikis.”
Kiln nodded, understanding a little piece of his younger brother. He wanted what every man wanted, respect. Perhaps he thought that whatever scheme he was planning was the only way he’d get it. And who knew? Maybe it was.
“Stop thinking,” Boikis said. “You’ll give yourself away.” He stood, and walked toward the doorway.
“Where are you going?”
“I have official business to tend to. I’ll check up on you later.”
And with that, Boikis stomped off, and out of the room.
A minute later, Kiln followed.
A father, he thought. I have a father.
~()~()~()~()~
“It’s as I said,” Ronak put his hands out in front of him, his black rimmed glasses foggy. “The dust isn’t stable enough, it-”
“I heard what you said!” Boikis turned away from the man and stepped towards the churning water.
The water cooled the humid, dark tunnel to a manageable degree. In the midst of it sat the machine. A giant hunk of metal that gleamed in the low light. It towered over Boikis, clocking in at nearly fifty feet high and a hundred feet wide. The seamless silver had only two holes. One at the top, where the light emitted that would counteract the Zenithian dust, and one at the bottom, a single service entrance. The only way to turn the machine on or off was buried under twenty-five feet of water.
The machine didn’t hum or ding. It sat silently. The only way that Boikis knew that it was on was because of the water that bubbled around it.
“How long?” Boikis asked.
“I can’t be sure,” Ronak replied.
“You told me a week. I should have four days left.”
“Yes, I know what I said, but it may go out before then. It’s already randomly shutting on and off. We need more dust and someone to look into stabilizing the compound.”
“You are the scientist here. Why can’t you stabilize it?”
“I need more dust.”
“We don’t have any more dust. Make it work, Ronak! I need this machine.”
“Then you’d better act fast, ambassador.”
“Puh!” Boikis turned from the man and stormed out of the tunnel. With the machine being so unstable, they would have to accelerate their plans. It meant one thing.
Haggarty would need to die sooner then expected.
CHAPTER 24
With more time to rest, and the Martian painkillers that made Arees head throb, she was finally able to sit up and move about her cell. She continued to run her mind over the one thing that mattered. An escape plan. But first, she had to find Nadira and Kiln. Lex would never leave without them and, after bonding with them on Gomorrah, she wasn’t certain that she’d want to leave without them, either.
“Are you well, Czarina?”
Nim’s voice came from the other side of the cell door.
“I told you. It’s just Arees now.”
Nim looked around nervously. “Sorry.”
She pulled the unlocked cell door open and sat on the cot, pulling her legs up beneath her thin skirts. The same thin, beige dress that all the women wore here.
“What kind of prison is this?” Arees asked. “The doors are open. There isn’t any screaming. The closest thing I’ve seen to a guard is you and Cara.”
“It’s the royal family’s personal prison,” Nim replied. “They only keep special people here.”
Why would the royal family care about us? Haggarty hates Venians. He would never work with Jun-Su. This must be all Boikis’ doing. What are his plans?
“Who’s in charge of the other wing?” Arees asked.
“Diana. She’s blind and deaf, but she’s been in here her whole life, learning how to get around, how to cook and clean.” Nim shook her head. “What a life.”
“And how many prisoners are in Diana’s wing?”
“That is none of your concern.” Cara drifted into the room, appearing from the shadows again.
Does she always do that?
“You must not have a lot to do with just two prisoners,” Arees said.
“There is plenty to do inside of these walls,” Cara replied, her meaty arms hanging heavy at her sides. “There’s cleaning, cooking, mending, and healing. Who do you think stitched you up after Boikis’ visit?”
Arees closed her eyes against the memory. She could still feel his fist imprinted in her gut.
“How long have you been here, Cara?” Arees asked.
“Me? Years. When the men no longer want you, they give you an actual job to do. I got sent down here.”
“And why are you here?” Arees asked Nim. The young woman would surely be attractive to someone.
“I don’t know. They just sent me here to help Cara when I arrived from Venus. Doesn’t stop the calls though.”
“The calls?”
Nim and Cara looked at each other, then at Arees.
“When the men want you, they send for you, and you have to go.”
“Or else what?”
“The guards will drag you there kicking and screaming. Then, it’ll be worse for you.”
“What do the men do to you once you get there?”
“Whatever they want to.”
Arees felt her throat swell up in disgust. Was that a women’s lot in life here? To be ordered about like animals?
“If the man finds you especially pleasing, he may choose to make you mare to his children.”
Arees stomach turned. “Don’t you have a choice in the matter?” She asked. “Don’t you have any rights?”
Nim shook her head. “No.”
“You won't have that to worry about,” Cara said. “Boikis has made you a permanent ration to the War Games winning team. That means you won’t be called.”
“Worse. I’ll be fed to a frenzied bunch of hyped up men after one of their barbaric games.”
“But only once a week,” Nim said. “That’s better than some women.”
“How could you say that?” Arees asked. “How could you think that being violated by a group of men once a week is a blessing, and not the vilest of curses?”
“For some it is every day,” Cara replied, her gaze far away. “Here, we are thankful for the small things. We pray that the men use us up quickly. Only then can we find some measure of peace.”
“Why settle for this disgusting, horrible life?” Arees asked.
Cara’s eyes slid to Arees. “What else could we do?”
“You could fight back. Rebel. Take the planet by storm.”
“Those are dangerous words,” Cara said.
“They are true words.”
“Who would you like to fight? We are broken and battered women against an army of soldiers. We don’t have any weapons. Some of us don’t even have clothes. What would you like us to do?”
“Rise up,” Arees said. “Declare open war. Refuse to give your bodies to these brutes.”
“Spoken like a true Venian,” Cara smirked. She placed a hand on Nim’s shoulder. “By the next war games, you’ll be just as broken as the rest of us.”
“I will never be broken.”
“These men will find
a way to break you. Trust me on that. You Venians think that you are so high and mighty. These men take everything from us. Our dignity, our pride, our self-respect. They leave us with nothing. Nothing! Do you understand? And now you want to come to us with a message of hope?” Cara’s eyes blazed. “That is the worst insult of all. For us, there is no hope. There is no escape from this life. There is no escape from them.”
Cara headed for the door, her gait filled with anger.
They will not break me, Arees told herself. I cannot be broken.
“I will find a way to escape.”
Cara stopped mid stride, not turning around. “Then you doom us all.”
And with that she was gone, back into the shadows where she’d come from.
Arees looked at Nim, her young face full of uncertainty and fear. “Have you given up hope too, Nim?” She asked.
The girl looked down at her fingers, then back at Arees. “There is a man, named Hyde. He calls me every once in a while. More frequently now. I have seen him forty-two times.” She held out her arms. Burn marks, some fading, some fresh, ran up and down her slim limbs. “Each time he sees me, he burns me. The worst part is, that is the gentlest thing he does.” She wiped away a tear and re-crossed her arms. “I’m sorry, Arees. I’ve lost hope long ago.”
She stood and ran for the door, not bothering to close it before disappearing down the hallway.
Arees sat on her cot, trying not to slump her shoulders. She had to be strong. She had to be hearty.
These men would not break her. She wouldn’t allow it. She had to find a way out of this prison, off of this planet, before war games. She just had to.
Standing, she walked out of her cell and down the narrow hallway.
She had to find Lex.
CHAPTER 25
“I spoke with my physician,” King Haggarty said over dinner. The old man didn’t eat very much, only took a mouth full of the warm hunk of meat and sat back in his wheelchair. “He said that you never went to see him.”
Kiln sipped his wine and ripped a piece of the meat off of the hunk, stuffing it in his mouth. Martian men did not use utensils, and the juices from his meal splattered all over his clothes.
“I’ve been very busy.”
“With what? Preparing for war games? Is it matters of state?”
