‘What happened?’
‘There was an explosion in the city,’ she said through her tears, and leaned to hug me.
I rested my head on her shoulder, trying not to cry. The rumble I had heard at the pool—was it the explosion?
‘Is Usher all right?’ I asked.
‘He’s the one who told me, and is now on his way over from across the continent. It was in the news, too—a disaster—the entire building came down. Everything’s gone, thousands of people…’ She curled up, crying.
At that moment, I was unable to grasp the weight of the matter. It was something so unthinkable. I had never thought I’d witness my father’s death, not until I was at least as old as he was now. I couldn’t fathom it. How could the entire building come down? I went into some kind of shock and wanted to understand better, but the words escaped me.
Just a few days earlier I had tried to impress him with my business plans, and now he was gone. There was so much I wanted to learn from him, and the thought of it never happening pushed me down. I curled up against my mother, sobbing.
In the evening we had the whole family, except my father, around the dinner table, looking down, eyes red and faces frowning.
Usher had flown in from the Fencarn mining station on the equator, and Sander from Jelen, the bigger of the two moons around Runcor.
Usher explained, ‘They say somebody had put plasma bombs underneath the building—not just one or two, but at least twenty—detonated together to make sure that every supporting pillar collapsed. I don’t know who it was, nor do I know how they got there, but I will see justice done.’
I let that sink in. Usher had just said that Father’s death wasn’t an accident, but that he was murdered.
Sander shook his head. ‘I will ask the Sweeps people if they know something. To me, it looks like an act by someone who deliberately wants to harm Runore and the family.’
‘He had some enemies,’ Usher said.
This, and the look in my brothers’ eyes reminded me of the time at the charity ball when I had stumbled upon them beating a man tied to a chair. We had never talked about it, nor did I hear them engage in such activity since, even though it was probably what Sander did in the Sweeps—he wasn’t pushing papers, for sure. Now that Father had passed, I would confront them, but I couldn’t do it in front of my mother.
‘You need to stay safe,’ Mother said, ‘all of you, if it’s us they want.’
‘We have the best men around us,’ Usher said. ‘Even now, our house is safe with our security crew watching over us.’
Sander said, ‘We’ll get them, whatever it takes.’
I clenched my fists as I thought about avenging his death.
Mother’s face seemed more tired than I’d ever seen before. ‘Find out, and do your best, but understand that it won’t bring your father back. Don’t let violence breed more violence. We must respect your father and let him rest in peace.’
I nodded at the same time as my brothers did. But I disagreed with my mother; I wanted whoever did this to pay for what they had done.
Usher put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Lil’ bro, you’re awfully quiet; it must be hard for you.’
‘It is—’ I started, but then it all came crashing down. I tried to avoid it and stay strong like my brothers, but I couldn’t help it. I burst into tears.
Usher squeezed my shoulder and nodded in understanding. He said, ‘Runore Inc is legally ours. Well, at least after Father’s will is done. Unfortunately, the stock price will plummet. It’s already down thirty percent and will require substantial investments to get the company back on track. We all need to work together on this.’
‘Damn,’ Sander said. ‘Just when I could’ve sold my shares.’
‘You’d sell your shares?’ Usher said with a raise of an eyebrow.
‘Yeah, bro,’ he said and leaned back in the chair. ‘I’ve no interest in digging up shit from underground.’
‘Watch your mouth,’ Mother said.
Usher looked at Sander, shaking his head. Then he turned to me. ‘What about you, Daler?’
‘I… I just want him back.’
‘I know; we all do,’ Usher said. ‘I have the reins of the business now. I could use your help, but I also want you to go to the Academy of Virtuous Knowledge.’
I hummed a reply. Usher and Sander had both graduated from Luzasand Academy of Virtuous Knowledge, but it was the last thing on my mind at the moment, especially for the purpose of helping Usher with the company. I had wanted to show my father I was better than Usher, that I deserved to lead the company, but now all of that had become meaningless.
My hand terminal beeped on the table. It was Tiana. I grabbed the terminal and ran up to my room.
I jumped on the bed without turning on the lights, and opened up a video call. Her face was one of worry, whereas mine was gloomy in the screen's glow in the dark.
‘I called as soon as I heard,’ she said. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I don’t know…’
‘Where are you?’ Her voice broke, and her eyes became wet. ‘It’s all dark, are you under the building?’
‘No, no,’ I said, ‘I’m home, it’s just dark. I don’t want to put the lights on.’
She put her hand on her chest—where a white t-shirt had a picture of a rubber duck—with a relieved sigh. ‘It’s gonna be OK.’
I let my face fall. ‘No, it’s all going wrong.’
‘Don’t say that,’ she said.
‘Maybe you’re right,’ I said, consciously knowing she was, even though I felt like everything was over. ‘May I call you later?’
She nodded, and I closed the connection.
I threw the terminal aside. Just when I had thought I had some kind of plan, it all fell apart. The grief of losing my father had just sunk in. The sadness loomed over me like a black cloud that made everything dark and grey, just like my room, with nothing to look forward to but an insignificant existence on flat and dry sands.
I lay on my bed in my day clothes and stared at the ceiling. My mind spiralled from one dark thought to the next and back again until, at some point, I drifted off to a choppy sleep.
Chapter Five
The next morning, dark clouds that only promised rain, but never delivered, loomed above me as I climbed into my father’s craft.
Gullan HX, the top model from a premium brand, was big enough to carry our whole family around the planet. It was limited to intra-planetary flight but was fast even when compared with the sporty craft—a perfect family compromise.
I had a significant stake in the family company, which now felt like nothing. The stock had dropped to rock-bottom, but it was still worth a fortune; however, unless I sold the shares or took over from Usher, they were worthless to me.
I sat down in the pilot’s seat and thought of my father.
I had never sat in that seat before. Sometimes I’d sat beside him, but most often at the back. This was the view my father saw, or, rather, had seen. Here he had leaned back and held the controls. I grasped the black leather yoke, feeling and smelling my father’s presence still lingering around me.
So much had I wanted to prove myself to him, but now that he was gone I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to see his murderers suffer like my father had done, like I had; but Mother said it would breed just more violence. Maybe she was right, but it didn’t matter, because the police had no ideas about who had done it.
I fired up the engines, pretending to be my father, and took the craft up gently. Rising above the suburbs, the gleaming skyscrapers of Luzasand shimmered like a mirage to my left. An enormous building was missing. One of the tallest ones, a symbol of my father, had turned into a hole in the ground.
Reaching far enough from the city for high-speed flight, I confirmed that I had registered with the flight control and hit the throttle like my father never did. Full power engaged, I shot through the plains and away from Luzasand.
I wanted to leave it all behind. I wa
nted to fly as far as I could.
The ground scrolled slowly far below me, and the clouds whizzed by as I let the Gullan rip. Out on the plains, there were no speed limits.
Far ahead of me, the mountain range of Wellanor, a long line of tall mountains, grew up from the caramel sands, and touched the skies with white tips of snow. The mountains gave me grounding. They rooted me in Runcor, the land and the sand in my veins.
As I flew towards the mountains, my mind raced as fast as the craft under me.
My father’s death made me think of my life’s purpose. Only now did I see that everything I had done had was to please him. I had wanted him to be proud of me. That’s why I’d wanted to lead the firm. That’s why I’d wanted to build a business of my own. Perhaps I had just wanted him to love me. But now that he was gone, I knew he had loved me; I just hadn’t seen it. He did it by guiding my path and thinking about what was the best for me. The empty void he left terrified me.
I pushed the throttle to the max and let myself enjoy the push of the powerful engines.
The world was massive. Even a corner of the universe like Runcor had everything, and there were other planets around Reuna. And the whole of Dawn Alliance-controlled space with the five races, and whatever unknowns lay beyond in the galaxies of billions of stars. I had never felt so insignificant and small.
The instrument panel beeped, and the HUD flashed a red warning sign of an impending collision with the mountain unless I changed course.
I ran on full manual. If I wanted, I could blast the craft straight into the wall. No system could save me.
The mountains became larger and larger in front of me. Massive chunks of rock had fallen from the cliff and settled down by the sand. The side of the mountain before me was almost vertical.
What if I just did it?
Fly against the mountainside and join my father in the afterlife.
My mind raced with the thought of letting go, as I stared at the rocky brown wall approaching fast.
Did my father die so I would kill myself?
My father had built a foundation of an empire. Now, someone from somewhere was trying to make it crumble.
Will I let those bastards win?
I stared into the mountain wall. The beeps had become louder, and the red warning sign more prominent, but I was somewhere else.
What am I doing?
The only thing on my mind: to find those who killed my father, take them down, and build my empire on their graves.
The wall was too close. I would hit it.
Blast! I don’t want to die.
I slammed the air-brakes and pulled up.
The craft was no racer, and it turned too slowly.
The beeping rang in my ears.
My vision faded as the inertia pulled the blood down from my brain. In my mind’s eye, I saw the blood of my enemies.
As I came to, the craft’s nose was ninety degrees up, but the inertia still pushed it toward the mountainside.
I held my breath.
I pushed the throttle as hard as I could.
I clenched my jaw and squeezed the yoke.
The ship shook, and my head slammed against the headrest as, with a loud boom, the ship’s bottom hit the rocky mountainside and then bounced back.
I gasped for air as I darted straight upwards. I eased the thrust and let the craft come to a calm run over the grand mountain range. The white tips of the mountains extended as far as the eye could see.
It was a magnificent view; I just stared with my mouth open. For a moment, nothing else existed but me and the mountains, and we were both at peace. I didn’t know whether I was dead or alive, but I was happy.
As I came back to reality, I checked the ship for damage. The communications relay was offline, as it was on the bottom of the craft. Luckily, all the vital systems were green.
I sighed. What was I thinking?
Perhaps this had to happen. I had to change or die. Now I knew what I had to do. I would change. I would find my father’s killers, regardless of what it took. After that, I would build a new Tait empire, and it would be bigger than my father could ever have imagined. Only then could I join him in the kingdom of the afterlife.
Determined, I knew where to start. I turned the craft back towards Luzasand and engaged full blast. Sander would have the connections to get me started.
Chapter Six
I stood on the foredeck of a desert cruiser; maybe the biggest one on which I had ever set my feet. The ship resembled an ancient sailing ship, but instead of running in water, this one floated above the dry sands on the plains on Fearanor. The sails fluttered in the breeze above, not propelling the ship forward but shielding the people on the deck from the scorching sun.
Just a moment ago, we had scattered my father’s ashes down into the desert, back home to his land. A priest and a group of monks from the Luzasand Spiritual Centre performed a quiet ceremony. Father’s body was no more, but they said his soul would live on.
Blessing my father, the priest said the words that struck me hard, ‘…and may he live in the afterlife’s calm, and may he live within you, because you are him, and he is you.’
In my mind, at least, he will live for as long as I will, I thought, as I stared at the never-ending sands.
Far away, the mountain range zig-zagged the horizon. Just a few days ago, I had almost made one zig my final resting place. I was glad I had chosen life. If my father would live on in me, I would carry his torch. Thinking about it strengthened my devotion to finding his killers. Whatever it took, I would punish the perpetrators.
A warm hand grabbed mine, and I turned around.
Tiana looked at me with a solemn expression. ‘Are you all right?’
She wore a long red skirt, blending in with the rest of the funeral crowd, except for the monks who wore black even in the scorching daylight. I observed the custom, too. Red symbolised blood. It was the symbol of the life force that carried on in the funeral attendees, and the further generations, even after a person had died.
‘I am his blood,’ I said.
‘You are.’
‘I mean, his legacy, his premature death… I will be the one to take it back.’
She joined me in leaning against the railing; the wind blew her hair and messed it up as the ship floated along the plains.
‘It must be hard for you.’
I nodded, staring into the Wellanor mountain range on the horizon. I didn’t tell her it also gave me a purpose, to find the people who had done this.
‘Your father would be so proud of you.’
‘I hope so,’ I said.
‘So, did you apply to Ten-to-One?’
I had completely forgotten about it. Or not entirely, but I had pushed the thought back. I would do it, but until now, my father’s death had preoccupied my mind. ‘No, not yet.’
‘Me neither.’
‘But you will, right?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think it’s the right one for me; I’m applying for the standard Academy.’
‘If you’re not applying, I don’t want to apply either,’ I said. ‘To be honest, I haven’t really thought about it since… It’s just been difficult these past few days.’
‘I know. You’re mourning now. Let me know if you need any help. I would love for us to be in the same school.’
‘Me too.’
She leaned against the railing, looking into the distance. ‘I would love for us to…’
She trailed off, and I swallowed. I knew what she would say. She was lovely, but I found it difficult to concentrate. ‘Love us to…?’
‘To be together.’
I took her in my arms and whispered, ‘Me too.’
She was warm, soft, and so fragile in my arms. I had longed for her embrace, but now, just being there was difficult. To be with her, in peace, I had to find my father’s killers, whatever it took. I had to talk with Sander to find out if the Sweeps could help us. With regret, I pushed her away. ‘I’m sorry.
I need some time.’
Her beautiful eyes revealed sorrow as her sadness intertwined with mine.
Tears formed in my eyes, and I embraced her again. ‘I don’t mean it like that. You know you’re my girl. I couldn’t do this without your help.’
We stood there for a while, holding and comforting each other.
‘Here you are!’ my mother said behind us. ‘I’ve been looking all over for you.’
I pushed back and wiped my eyes.
‘Oh, I’m sorry to—’ My mother pursed her lips. ‘But I believe they expect the whole family to take part in the reception now.’
I nodded. ‘I’ll join you.’
My mother hugged me. ‘I’m just glad to have my boys safe.’
I hugged her back. ‘I love you, Mom.’
As we parted, my mother said to Tiana, ‘Thank you for everything. Know that you are always welcome in our home.’
She smiled with a face of understanding and hugged my mother.
Most of the people aboard the ship had withdrawn inside the luxurious, lacquered wood and crystallium covered interior. Because of my father’s stature in Luzasand and across the entire planet, high society filled the hall. There were also multiple representatives from other worlds orbiting Reuna, and even interstellar guests, former and current trade partners from as far as Darnison. Usher was busy tending to the guests as the new President of Runore, but Sander had disappeared somewhere.
When my eyes met with Usher’s, he beckoned me to join him. I left Tiana with my mother to have a cup of Berdunamian tea and Jindalar puff cakes.
Usher stood with a bunch of serious-looking gentlemen. ‘I would like to introduce my little brother,’ he said. ‘He, too, works with the family firm.’
A big gentleman in a long red robe and a dark bowtie nodded to me with a hard expression. ‘Willen Puissance, at your service. I am most regretful about what happened. I understand your situation, and I wish you well.’
Puissance was the mayor of Luzasand, and Father’s close business acquaintance. As we shook hands, his wide smile failed to extend into his hard eyes.
Crooked Stars Page 3
