The Doomed Planet (Mastery of the Stars Book 1)

by M J Dees

Thertee produced a small tablet from an only slightly larger box.

  “You should have one. It might help with your anxiety.”

  Thertee handed Sevan the pill.

  “I’m not sure,” Sevan looked at the pill resting in his palm.

  “Come on Sevan, if you are going to save us you will need to take risks.”

  Sevan popped the pill into his mouth and washed it down with the last of his juice.

  “How do you feel?”

  “I feel very anxious, like my throat is closing, like I’m not going to be able to breathe. Make it stop.”

  “Oh dear. Maybe that was a bad idea.”

  Sevan held onto his seat as if the floor was hundreds of feet below and he might fall off at any moment.

  “I thought you were giving me something to help me,” Sevan gasped.

  “Well, it helps most people to feel relaxed. I should have known that it would make you more anxious,” Thertee said as he prepared an herbal tea. “Listen Sevan, I wouldn’t have chosen you for this mission either but I don’t have any choice, you’re the only option.”

  Thertee took the cup of herbal tea and sat next to Sevan.

  “Will that help me calm down?” Sevan asked, looking at the cup.

  “This? Oh no, this isn’t for you, it’s for me. I deserve it.”

  Thertee moved just far enough away from Sevan so that his cup was out of reach.

  “That pill was meant to calm you down enough for me to tell you the plan,” Thertee grumbled. “Never mind, I’ll just have to tell it to you while you are in this state and hope you remember most of it.”

  “Can’t you tell me later?”

  “No, this will be the last time when I can guarantee to be alone with you.”

  “Well don’t you have some pills in your cavern of mystery that would reveal everything to me?”

  “A magic pill that reveals the truth to you so you understand that your entire life so far had been a lie? Don’t be silly that would be ridiculous.”

  Sevan didn’t think it such a bad idea. He wished there was another magic pill he could take which would allow him to forget all this and go back to the life he was living before; ignorant of all this truth. Even the work bully, Fore, didn’t seem so bad anymore.

  “So why do you call this the cavern of mysteries then?” Sevan grumbled.

  “Because here is where I keep all the secrets, all the truths, all the evidence about who we were and where we came from.”

  “And they let you keep it here?”

  “If they knew what I kept here in my cavern of mysteries, they would execute me for sure.”

  “How do they not know?”

  “Oh, I’m above suspicion. Such a loyal servant for so many years. If you got into difficulties during your mission, I would be quite unable to help you. And if you dare repeat anything I am about to tell you, I would deny it as the ravings of one who has had too much fushy fushy juice.”

  “That’s nice to know.”

  “Yes, you are on your own.”

  “So what were you going to tell me? I don’t suppose it’s not too late to not know is it?”

  “Do you realise how many negatives were in that sentence? You must learn to look at the positives.”

  “Are there any?”

  “I’m sure there must be if you look hard enough.”

  All this thinking was making Sevan dizzy, and he decided it would be better if he just concentrated on two things: not moving and breathing.

  “We have a contact in the corporation who will arrange a visit for the Concession Council.”

  “To the corporation?” Sevan was so shocked he almost forgets to both stay still and breathe.

  “That’s only half of it. Our contact in the Corporation is high ranking. He will get you onto a corporation freighter so you can go to see Man.”

  “Man?”

  “President Man.”

  “President Man? The president of the whole region? Are you mad? How am I supposed to get anywhere near him? And what am I supposed to say if I did?” Sevan had given up on breathing and trying to stay still all together.

  “This is what you have to listen to, Sevan. I may not have time to tell you again.”

  “You need to tell President Man about Barnes?”

  “Barnes?”

  “That’s right. The corporation is flouting hundreds of system regulations by keeping us here and treating us like slaves. It’s Barnes who is responsible. If we can let President Man know what is happening and get rid of Barnes, then we could end this persecution once and for all.”

  “Why has no one thought about telling President Man before?”

  “It’s not that easy Sevan. We are never allowed to communicate with the corporation, except through the Commission Council, and a worker has never communicated with the system outside of the corporation. The opportunity to get you on board a corporation freighter is too good to miss, we don’t know when we’ll get another chance, Sevan. It’s now or never. You or no one. We have no choice, Sevan, you are our only hope.”

  “So let’s assume, for argument’s sake, that this friend of yours gets me on the freighter. What the cavernous sink plug am I supposed to do then?”

  “There I cannot help you,” Thertee admitted. “Our contact assures me that there will be an agent on the freighter to help you but beyond that I cannot say.”

  Sevan didn’t feel at all reassured, the sense of anxiety continued to rise.

  “Look up there,” said Thertee, pointing through an aperture in the container wall. “The Giant Cup is full tonight. It’s an omen.”

  “What do you mean? The Giant Cup is always full on Binge Eve. That’s how they decide it’s time for Binge.”

  “Come on Sevan, work with me. I’m clutching at antennae here.”

  “I’m not going to get out of this am I?” Sevan sighed.

  Thertee shook his antennae.

  “No. You don't want to end up like Tuuth do you?”

  It was Sevan’s turn to shake his antennae.

  There was a bang on the container door.

  “Come,” said Thertee in an authoritative voice.

  The door opened and a member of the security force entered.

  “Sir,” the guard said with deference.

  “Yes, what is it?” Thertee’s tone was impatient.

  The guard swallowed hard and straightened to his full height before speaking.

  “The Council requests the presence of the representative.”

  Sevan fainted.

  CHAPTER 3: THE CALLING

  When Sevan awoke, the security forces led him through cavernous tunnels followed at a polite distance by Thertee. Sevan felt terrible. It was all he could do to walk straight. He kept his eyes fixed on the guard leading the way. Any glance to either side would set off a dizziness that threatened to topple his balance.

  They arrived at a set of huge doors which appeared to swing open of their own accord when they approached. As the doors opened, they revealed the huge council chamber, large considering the small number of council members, all of whom appeared to have gathered to welcome Sevan. He observed how green they looked in relation to himself and he felt self-conscious. The chamber itself was oval, most of the ceiling was made of glass through which Sevan could see beautiful hues of the darkening sky. Rows of pillars which reached up to an ornate vaulted perimeter supported the huge expanse of glass. The detail in the ornamentation was so fine that Sevan assumed a previous civilisation must have created the chamber. Nothing he had seen on the Concession matched the quality of the work in this room.

  “Sevan, so good to meet you,” said the Chief Council Member. Sevan recognised him from the various times he had seen him on the big screen addressing the workers, that very morning being the most recent occasion.

  “And you,” said Sevan. He gave an awkward bow, and they shook antennae.

  “Thank you, Thertee, that will be all,” said the Chief Council Member.

  Th
ertee bowed and backed out of the room but not before offering Sevan a wink and a smile. Two members of the security forces closed the huge doors behind him.

  “Congratulations,” the Chief Council Member continued. “If you use your marbles, Sevan. You could be onto a good thing here. Did you enjoy your work?”

  “Yes,” Sevan realised his answer had been too eager.

  “Oh come, come, Sevan, we know what it’s like out there, living and working in those containers. You won’t have to worry about that any more. I’m sure you’ll find your quarters even more comfortable than those of Thertee. This is as good as it gets for a worker like you, Sevan, you were very fortunate that we drew your name.”

  “May I ask you a question?”

  “Of course.”

  “Is it a lottery or was I chosen?”

  The Chief Council Member laughed.

  “Has Thertee been filling your antennae with conspiracy theories? He does that to all the new representatives.” The Chief Council Member leant closer and lowered his voice, “Between you and me, Sevan, I think Thertee is losing his marbles. I’m not sure he is up to the job anymore, but he’s been here for so long that I can’t bring myself to get rid of him.”

  The Chief Council Member started walking around the chamber and Sevan sensed that he required him to follow.

  “I imagine he told you we are all slaves here on the concession, didn’t he?”

  “Well...” Sevan didn’t want to get Thertee into trouble.

  “Do we look like slaves to you, Sevan? Have you ever felt like a slave?”

  “Well...”

  “No, I didn’t think so. Slaves don’t have representatives on the council, do they? And yet here you are, Sevan. I think you could go places, Sevan. You just have to play the game, if you know what I mean, Sevan. Do you know what I mean?”

  “Er...I think so.”

  “I mean, it’s like all this green blue rubbish. We are all turquoise, aren’t we? Look at you and me, we can get on fine together, can't we? We’re both turquoise.”

  Sevan nodded, but he knew that he was the blue side of turquoise while the Chief Council Member was the green side of turquoise, there was no doubt about that. He also knew that workers doing menial jobs tended to be darker shades of blue while supervisors were usually all shades of green. As he surveyed the other council members in the chamber, Sevan saw the greenest shades of turquoise he had ever encountered and the Chief Council Member was the greenest of all.

  “May I ask you a question, Chief Council Member?” Sevan swallowed hard.

  “Please call me CCM, or just sir.”

  “Yes, sir. I was just wondering whether there was any truth in the rumour that when we have depleted all the ore, they will liquidise the planet.”

  “Was that Thertee as well?” CCM laughed.

  “Well...”

  “I wouldn’t worry, Sevan. We’re not about to run out of Ore soon.”

  “It’s just that I’ve been struggling to meet my quotas and I wondered whether scarcity might be a contributing factor.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that, Sevan. You won’t need to be fulfilling any quotas soon, as long as you play the game. You understand?”

  Sevan nodded, but he did not understand what game they expected him to play.

  “Magnificent isn’t it?” the CCM said, staring up at the ceiling.

  Sevan wasn’t sure whether he was referring to the ornate architecture or the Giant Cup visible through the glass.

  “Yes, it is.” Sevan just stared upwards looking at both marvels.

  “The Cup is full, Sevan. That is a very good omen.”

  Sevan thought about mentioning that the Cup is always full at lottery and Binge time, that’s how they selected the date, but he thought better of it.

  “Trust in the Cup, Sevan. Trust in your fellow members of the council and you won’t go far wrong. But stray from the true path and you may not live to regret it.”

  “I understand,” said Sevan, the words catching in his throat.

  “We have called you to serve your fellow workers as their representative. You must answer this call, you must rise to the challenge. Your calling is to serve your fellows on the council, nothing more and nothing less. Do this and do it well. Fulfil your calling, Sevan. I believe in you.”

  Sevan nodded. The CCM seemed satisfied and began to lead him back to the other council members.

  “Tomorrow you will join us for the Binge celebrations,” the CCM continued. “We will eat, drink and be merry, but tonight you must rest. Once you have met the council, you will be shown to your quarters. I am certain that you will find them satisfactory.”

  Sevan found his quarters more than satisfactory. They weren’t even in a container and made Thertee’s spacious accommodation look cramped. His quarters were situated beneath the council chamber and were made of the same stone as the mighty pillars which had amazed him earlier. The furnishings were old but luxurious and comprised of a living area and a separate bedroom, something that Sevan had never seen before.

  He found a cabinet containing crystal decanters of what looked to him like fushy fushy juice but he decided not to touch them until Binge, which was only one short sleep away. His bed looked like the most comfortable thing he had ever seen and he availed himself of its comfort. As he lay on the comfortable mattress, he thought about the conversations he had had today with Thertee and CCM. Thertee was getting on a bit and it didn’t take much imagination to know that if he did as CCM wanted, his life would be comfortable and he would want for nothing.

  The next day Sevan celebrated Binge as he had never celebrated before. Gone were the dazed brawls in the spaces between the containers, no more waking up covered in unexpected substances with unwanted others. This Binge was a civilised affair for Sevan. It began with a breakfast in the council chamber, the likes of which Sevan had never witnessed. Every type of food he had ever imagined and quite a few he hadn’t had been spread over a huge table around which the council members sat, ate, chatted and laughed. None of the council members said very much to Sevan and when they did, he got the distinct impression that they were speaking down to him, but he didn’t mind. He was eating the most marvellous breakfast he had ever seen. At least he wasn’t lying propped up on some strange container out of his antennae on fushy fushy juice.

  The whole day of Binge continued in much the same way. No sooner had the dark blue waiters cleared breakfast than they set lunch. The waiters circulated between the councillors offering cups of liquid which Sevan had thought to be fushy fushy juice but turned out to be a sweet tasting drink, which gave him a warm cosy feeling inside and made him feel as if all his anxiety was washing away.

  Even though Sevan didn’t mind that none of the other councillors attempted to converse with him, it relieved him to see Thertee arrive with a delegation of dignitaries who had been invited to a function in the mid-afternoon. Thertee headed straight for Sevan.

  “How are you settling in?” Thertee asked.

  “Everything is amazing. You should see my quarters, and the food. The other councillors don’t talk to me much, but I don’t mind.”

  “They won’t. You’re beneath them. Don’t get too comfortable, Sevan, remember you have a job to do.”

  “Yes, well, about that. I have a very good thing going here, Thertee. Why would I want to jeopardise what I have? I could live out my days like this.”

  “While your fellow workers suffer?”

  “I’m not a worker now, Thertee. I would be losing my marbles if I looked a gift beast in the nostril.”

  Thertee sighed.

  “You have been listening to the Chief Council Member, haven’t you?” he said. “Come with me.”

  Sevan followed Thertee to a door guarded by members of the security forces who let them through. On the other side, Sevan found himself in a large elevator. Thertee pressed a large button, and it swept them upwards. At the zenith of its journey, the elevator opened its doors into what was a l
arge viewing platform, a circular room with glass windows angled to facilitate a spectacular view of the Concession which spread out beneath them.

  “Sevan, the workers are being persecuted,” Thertee said, pointing at the masses revelling in the streets below.

  “They don’t look persecuted to me. They look like they are having a great time getting off their marbles.”

  “Of course they do. Can’t you see, Sevan? The Concession uses Fushy Fushy juice to keep the workers in their place. As long as it satisfies them with fushy highs and mind numbing entertainment implants, they will never rise up, never ask for anything more.”

  “Are you saying that the entertainment implant is part of the conspiracy as well now?”

  “Of course it is Sevan, can you not see?”

  “You are saying that the Concession created the last episode of ‘Where the Hills Shine Most’ to stop us from asking questions about how much we work and how we live.”

  Thertee nodded.

  Sevan burst out laughing.

  “I think CCM was right,” he said. “You are losing your marbles in your old age.”

  “Sevan, look at them down there,” said Thertee, leaning on one of the angled observation windows. “They’re under complete control.”

  Thertee banged on the window and, as he did, the glass shattered into thousands of tiny pieces sending Thertee tumbling hundreds of metres through the air to the ground where he stopped abruptly in a pool of Thertee blood and internal organs.

  Sevan stood frozen, the wind rushing through the gap where the window used to be.

  CHAPTER 4: HISTORY LESSON

  Sevan sat at his place on the huge table which dominated the centre of the council chamber. His place was as far from the CCM as it was possible to be, but the acoustics of the room were so efficient he could hear every word as if the CCM spoke it next to him.

  There was a stranger at the table and, judging by the way the councillors were all on their best behaviour, he must have been very important. He didn’t look like anyone Sevan had ever seen before, no antennae for a start and he wasn’t even turquoise, not even blue or green, but red. Sevan hadn’t known it was even possible to be red, and he had to work hard at pretending he wasn’t staring at the stranger while, trying to take every opportunity to stare as much as possible.