“What is the point, then? Why are we still doing whatever they want, if we are going to die either way?” I was shaking. The conversation was just a repeat of yesterday, and the day before. I had not gone back to the Surgeon.
“The point!” Baila slapped a hand down on the table, eyes boring into me. After she was sure she had my attention, she continued, “-is that you were already on the Empire’s list, even before your stunt with the soldiers. Now, we have to wait until Stravus says it’s time.”
“And if he just leaves us out here to rot? Have you even heard from him? It’s been weeks.” I was tired of hiding. I missed Boh’gren. I missed Vuvu and Fabian. I missed Gr’apa. “I don’t know what oaths you’ve sworn, but they aren’t my oaths. I am going to fight, even if it kills me.”
Torlyn stood up, walked to the window, and checked the streets before closing the blinds. “You’re mad, Divan. Where will you start? The slavers in the fields? Their masters? We fight for specks of sand in the desert. They control galaxies. Going in with no plan is dangerous. Deadly.”
“Then let’s make a plan. Instead of waiting, pretending that Stravus even intends to come to our aid, let’s take action.” I stood up, walked away from the table. I waited, but the others stayed silent. “Will you just let Ara’s death go unanswered? Keep your head down, take up in her house, and hope that you get a few good years before you miss quota?”
Torlyn pulled his hand up to his mouth and bit into his first finger. His sharpened teeth broke his skin, blood running down his arm. He held it up in front of him, staring me down. “Take it back, you little shit,” he said. Red spittle flung from his mouth, but he made no motion to clean himself. His eyes dug into me as the blood ran off the crook of his elbow and splashed into the pool below.
“Or what? You will let me enslave you, work you into your grave? Kill your family in front of you?”
My teeth slammed together as what felt like a sledgehammer hit my chin. The space between my brain and my skull disappeared, and I was lifted off my feet. As I sailed backward through the air, I saw the solid mass of red around his fist. Brilliant, I thought as I watched him fall backward. I landed on my backside against the wall. I was shaken up - maybe a chipped tooth or a broken jaw, but I should be fine by morning.
Torlyn stood over me, his jaw looking dislocated. He spat thick and bloody onto me as his face shifted and the bone slowly shifted back into place. “I’d kill you if it wouldn’t kill me. Get out of my house.”
Baila protested, but I shrugged it off. “If he doesn’t want me, it’s fine. You’re all just playing revolution. I have had enough games.” I stormed out, not looking at either of them. They wanted to wait for someone else to free them. If we all waited though, we would never be free. I would be the someone they were all waiting for.
I was going to need some help.
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Communication had come a long way, even in my lifetime. When I was a boy, most communication was written, with postmen employing the same kids that ran the holoreels now delivering the messages. As the integration began, we had adopted satellite phones and email, but it was all on the Terran network. I had to find a way to reach someone back home that the Empire didn’t have control over.
I went to the open-air market where I had first met Ok’di. I knew it was a long shot, but my only chance was here. I searched a half dozen tables of wires and tablets and other devices that were ancient even here. Finally, I found what I had been looking for - an old Nokia telephone from Earth that relied on cellular signals. It was old, outdated technology, but I knew of one person that kept a cell phone for his more discreet clientele.
I had remembered Fabian’s cell code when we were still in grade school. He had made a cell signal booster out of a soup can, some wire, and several hours with a soldering iron. The five digits were always easy to remember. Fabian had told me the joke that Terran children learned with their calculators in their primary school. I didn’t understand why a series of number would be funny, but Fabian understood Terran humor a lot better than I ever would.
I dialed the number - 80085 - and hit the worn green CALL button. The screeching sound of the phone connecting to the nearest tower made me pull it away from my head. After nearly half a minute, I heard the loud click of the call connecting to the network, then ringing as I waited for Fabian to pick up on the other end.
I let the phone ring for a long time before deciding to end the connection. Maybe he decided to give up the less savory customers, I thought without any conviction. I pulled the little plastic brick away from my head just as I heard another solid click.
“Hello? Fuck all. Hello?” The voice on the other end of the call sounded hurried, out of breath. Almost afraid. He paused for a second, then continued. “Boone? Is that you?”
“No, just me.” I said, trying not to dwell on who Boone might be. Fabian’s business associates had not always been something that we agreed on, but I gave up trying to keep tabs on al the cutthroats and crooks he had arrangements with. “I’m in a pinch, Fabe.”
The phone was silent again, long enough that I had begun to think he had hung up. Finally, in a much clearer and more steady tone, I heard, “Boh’s britches, Divan, where have you been? Everyone is looking for you. They are saying all kinds of awful things about you. Where are you right now?”
Hearing his voice triggered a wave of emotion. The weight of everything pressed down on me. I choked it all down and said, “Fabian, I’m going to stop the Empire. I need your help.
Four days later, the large man had already brought some of the comforts of home with him, including Vuvu, who had not left my side since getting off the shuttle from Boh’gren. “Don’t you think it is a bit… unnatural, how much you love that thing?” he asked me.
I ignored him, instead calling out “Who’s the sweetest fox on the whole farm?” in a high pitched voice that I knew would both make my sweet fox excited and send Fabian into hysterics. I rubbed behind her ears and finally met Fabian’s gaze.
Rolling my eyes, I said, “I only hope that you find a love as true, as the love I have for my Vuvu!” She let out a high-pitched squeal of delight, licking my face and letting out little yips until I put her on the ground. “Don’t worry, Fabian. If you help me with this I bet the girls will be lined up around the block.”
“For Boh’s sake, man, all I need is one more person to disappoint. Let’s get to work. We can’t all run off to the countryside to play doctor or farmer. Some of us have to get back to the real world at some point.” He smiled at me, shoving me lightly. For the first time since I could remember, I felt hopeful.