Dinner in the commissary had been an interesting affair. The Chief had been correct that the place was mostly empty, but the Zahnians who were there when we entered seemed to rush through their meal. Within five minutes, Hon and I had the place to ourselves.

I felt guilty as I took what a food synthesizer had prepared for me and sat at one of the many now empty tables with a new understanding of why I should take my meals in my room from now on. The fact that even the Chief refused to sit at the same table as me as he ate rung that home even more.

My mood was so low that I hadn’t even really appreciated the fact that I was eating food that had been created by putting some tablets on a plate and setting it in a device that looked a lot like a microwave. Moments later, the tablets had become a steaming hot plate of delicious smelling food.

I just sat there for a bit staring at the strange looking dark meat and the violet tubes on my plate that reminded me of turnips. My stomach reminded me why I was here, so I started to eat. The savory flavors were quite good, and even with my dark mood, I ended up finishing it all.

After we were done with our meals, the Chief then started the official tour, taking the time to disclose the full layout of the ship, including the restricted sections. He explained to me that as Prince of the Empire there was no place I couldn’t go, but he did caution that my presence would be disruptive and to keep that in mind. He didn’t have to convince me. Our time in the commissary had already proven that.

He showed me a lot of interesting areas, but my favorite so far was the observation deck. It was a large room about two football fields put together with rows and rows of benches lining the room. And at the front and center was a large window that encompassed a vast portion of the front wall. Beyond that window a swirling mass of dancing rainbow colors were a mesmerizing sight. I stood there for the better part of half an hour just enjoying the show.

Eventually, Hon was able to pull me from the observation deck with the promise of showing me the engine room. That got my attention.

We timed it just right to arrive during shift change, which made it easier to enter without causing too much disruption. Again, I was entranced, but this time by several short rows of crescent shaped workstations that held numerous knobs, blinking lights, and dials. I had a strong desire to walk over to a station to get a better look, but two of the stations had Zahnians standing at them, and I decided I had been enough of a disruption today.

Instead, I found myself pulled to the far wall of the engine room. I could see the wall of glass there, but it was what was on the other side of the glass that had my attention. I stopped to peer into the room beyond that housed the massive engine of the battle cruiser.

There was no telling exactly how big the room beyond the glass might be, but it had to be quite large because a giant metal sphere that looked about the size of a mid-sized car filled the space. The sphere was pitch black except for random arcing pulses of blue light running across the surface. From my angle, I could not see any hatches, ports, and anything else that might give access to what might be inside the giant sphere, or any indication of what would be causing the arcing pulses along the surface.

“How does it work?” I asked.

The Chief shrugged. “This really isn’t my area.”

I realized that I still had no idea what Hon’s duty on this ship was. “How rude of me. I never asked where you are stationed at?”

The Chief’s face reddened. “It’s nowhere important.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I first ran into you near the bridge, so it must be a little bit important.”

“You ran into me, because I was doing my rounds. I keep all the cleaning bots on Xlero maintained and running.”

“Xlero?”

“It’s the name of the ship.”

I smiled at the other man to reassure him. “Well, it sounds important to me. Can you imagine what this place would be like if there was gunk everywhere? I bet it’s a big job to keep a ship this size clean. How many bots do you have under your care?”

“Over ten thousand.”

I whistle. “And you do that all by yourself?”

The Chief shrugged. “It’s not as big as you think. One person is enough to keep them going. The bots rarely need much assistance. I only get involved if there is a problem.”

“It’s still impressive, and sounds like an interesting job.”

“If you say so.”

I looked back at the giant sphere beyond the window. For the moment, it seemed the arcing blue streams were taking break.

“Do you know what I did on Earth for a living?”

“You had a job?” He sounded incredulously like he didn’t quite believe what I was saying.

“Of course. Oh, don’t look at me like that. I enjoyed it immensely. I was an engineer. I went to a school for years because that’s what I always wanted to do as far back as I could remember. Once I graduated, I started working as an engineer a little over a year ago, and of course, they started me with menial assignments.

“My very first job was to do diagnostics for machines that had been written off as unfixable. I spent hours in a lab all by myself, trying to get broken machines to work again, and I loved it. Mostly because there was a certain feeling of pride when I did manage to get some of the broken ones fixed, but also I knew that what I was doing was important.

“My job made it so others could do their jobs, because they didn’t have to worry about fixing the broken machines. I did it for them, and I was good at it. I also knew that it wasn’t a job I would have forever, eventually I would be the one making the machines, not just fixing them.

“I had actually just received my first real project a month before I was taken from Earth. I was at a meeting to present the preliminary schematics to the research and development team when we saw the news broadcast about this ship.” I trailed off as my mind went back to the fateful day.

“What was your project?” The Chief asked bringing me out of my dark thoughts.

“A smart drone. I know, not a big deal. Do you know how many different models of smart drones are on Earth right now? But it was my smart drone and it felt good to head a project, even a small one.

“Anyways, I guess all that was to say that I know what it’s like, and that maybe taking on a new perspective about what you do would help you realize that your work is just as important as even the Admirals.”

Hon grunted. “I have to admit. Never thought about it like that.” He paused for a moment as if he was carefully considering something. “Would you like to see where I work?”

I smiled. “I would love to.”

We turned away from the sphere. I was a little disappointed it that I didn’t get to at least know how it worked, but I figured being the Prince of the Empire at some point I would learn all about that too. Right now, I had something far more important to do.

An hour later, we were elbows deep into a cleaning bot that had been on the frizz. The Chief assured me that most of the bots worked well and rarely needed this kind of intervention, but I wasn’t complaining. I was learning a lot about the inner workings of Ethian machines, not to mention that this kind of was my jam. And I’ll admit that I might have been having a good time, the best since setting foot on Vang’s ship.

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“So it short-circuited?” I asked, holding open a wall of black wires so Hon could pull out a metal disk that look like it had been fried.

“More or less. Its happened to several of the machines since the incident.” The Chief took a white pulsing disk and moved it to where the burnt one had once been.

“What incident?”

The Chief looked up and blushed. “I–I… I probably shouldn’t say.”

I paused as I studied the man. I sensed a wall of fear coming from him.

“Why not?”

Hon pulled his hand back out once the new disk was in place. He motioned that I could let go of the wires I had been holding.

The Chief shrugged. “I honestly don’t know much anyways. You should talk to the Admiral. He could give you more information.”

Translation. He would give me the information if he thought I needed to know, and knowing the Admiral, he probably didn’t think I needed to know. I blew out a frustrated sigh.

“What’s his deal anyways?”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s so…”

“Intimidating?” The Chief finished for me with a small smile.

I chuckled. “Yes, that’s a good word for it.”

“Well, that is his Dome-ni.”

“Wait, are you serious? There’s an actual Dome-ni that helps you be more intimidating?”

Hon nodded. “Yes, it’s called Coercion.”

I sat there for a moment with my mouth wide open. I then closed it and shook my head. “Of course there is. Damn, that’s a pretty nifty trick to have, and Vang’s a master at it.”

“I did hear that he reached mastery level a few years back.”

I snorted. Yeah, no big surprise there. “So what about you? What is your Dome-ni?”

The Chief was silent as he carefully took the metal backing and secured it in place, and then he stood up and wiped his hands off on a cloth. I couldn’t help but notice that he was trying to avoid looking at me.

“It’s getting late. I should get you back to your room.”

“Did I say something wrong?” I asked uncertain of what was going on. I could feel something coming from him, but I couldn’t quite place it.

He walked past me and out of the small area he used to bring the broken cleaning bots for fixing.

“Hon, please, tell me what I did wrong.”

The man stopped with his back to me. After a moment, he turned and his face full of guilt.

“It’s not your fault. It’s just… I didn’t expect you to be so much different than the other Heirs. I didn’t expect you to be so personable and likable.”

A wave of uncertainty and conflict washed over me. I knew it came from the Chief, but I couldn’t not fathom why. My body tensed. Something wasn’t right here. And in that moment, I couldn’t help but notice that we were all alone in a tiny room far away from the more populated parts of the ship.

“What are you talking about?”

“You asked me about my Dome-ni. Just so you know, not all Ethians have Dome-ni. Some are born completely without, and it’s a struggle for them to exist in a society that applauds superiority. Do you know what it even took for me to get into the Zahnian Legion, or even get this lowly position on a battle cruiser?

“You talked about being able to start at a low job and work your way up. That’s not even a possibility for someone like me. This is as good as it is ever going to get. I will forever be stuck in this position of bot cleaner manager. There is no other position waiting for me in the future.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

The Chief shook his head. “Again, not your fault. You were only trying to help. That’s more than a lot of people have done for me, and I appreciate it.”

The man ducked his head as if he was ashamed of something. “Please, just go back to your room before I change my mind.”

“Your mind about what?”

I looked and I saw that the Chief had pulled something from his pocket. He held it to his side. His hand and whole arm were shaking. Shock washed over me as I realized he was holding a gun. My heart started to pound and I felt my palms begin to sweat.

“I don’t understand, Hon. I thought we were getting along so well. Please help me understand.”

“I told you. Our system is broken. There is only one way to fix it. The Fazha Rebellion had it right all along. We cannot allow things to continue as they have been for the last millennium.

“They were hoping you wouldn’t be found at all, but if you were, I was supposed to make sure you never made it back to Ethia. We don’t need more entitled rulers telling us how to live our lives.”

I shook my head trying to make sense of it all. The only thing I knew for sure was that this man’s conflict was strong. I could feel him teetering on the edge of a cliff, but which one, I did not know. I knew I should take his offer and get out of here. Run for the nearest Zahnian and tell him about Chief Hon’s threat, but something stopped me, something in me wanted to see this through, because in my heart, I completely understood his anger. I had felt it too at my own situation.

“I get it. I really do. Do you think I wanted to leave my life on Earth behind? Do you think I like all the boring and tedious lectures Vang’s been giving me? Do you think I enjoy being around a bunch of hard asses who don’t even know how to have a decent conversation?

“My dad––Aragon gave me an out. I could have taken it. I could have stayed on Earth. He was going to give himself up for me, and tell Admiral Vang I was dead. If I had just let him do that, I would not have to be here at all, and honestly, I wish I wasn’t. I wish I was back on Earth and far away from here, but if I had made that choice, my dad’s fate would have been sealed, and I could not live with myself if that happened.

“So now, I have to put up with all of this. In doing so, I keep the Admiral from going back for my dad. It’s a crappy deal for me, but at least I know I did the right thing, and that makes it worth all of this craziness. But I have to admit, the more I learn about how Ethians do things, the more upset I become. I assure you, Hon, that I am not someone who supports a superiority kind of society, and I suppose I have my parents to thank for that.

“Sure, my dad may have risen to a high status while on Earth, but he always taught me that people should be accepted as they are, no one person is better than anyone else. We all have something important to bring to the table.”

The room was silent for a long moment as I concluded what I had to say. For better or worse, it was out there in the open. I had to admit that it felt good to say it, to express how I really felt instead of keeping it all bottled up inside.

It also made me realize how much my parents really had done for me in taking me away from Ethia. They hadn’t just saved my life, they had given me the opportunity to live a different way, to follow a different path than it seemed many Ethians followed, especially the upper class. What kind of person would have I been otherwise? Who would I have been if my birth father had had a strong influence in my life? I shuttered at the thought.

The turmoil coming from the Chief lessened and I found it easier to breathe. I had not realized the strong emotion from him was effecting me so badly. That invisible barrier had started to get used to had disappeared sometime while I was talking, which was a curious development I didn’t have time to ponder right now. I watched Hon slip the gun back in his pocket, and then he went to a chair and sat down with a heavy sigh.

“If only our leaders thought like you did. Then maybe I wouldn’t have had to make a deal with the Fazha.”

“What do you mean?”

The Chief shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.” He looked up to me with a small smile. “I have made my choice, and I am at peace with it. You should go now. It’s getting close to the night shift. The Admiral will want you back in your quarters. If you aren’t there, he might send a team to come get you. You really don’t want that.”

My body tensed up at that thought. Yeah, I could only imagine how that would go down. I started to head for the exit, but stopped. I looked to the Chief.

“What about you? What are you going to do?”

“What I need to do. And you should do what you need to do too.” He leveled his gaze on me with a pointed look.

“I won’t tell Vang if that’s what you are worried about.”

Hon shook his head. “Don’t do that on my account. He will find out. He always does. Nothing can stay secret on his ship for long. I knew that, and my fate, when I made the deal with the Fazha. Tell him, it will be alright.”

I stood there opening and closing my mouth not sure what to say, because I knew what would happen to this man if I said a word to the Admiral about what had just happened.

“Hon––”

“Thank you, Highness.” The Chief cut me off. “I can say that it has been a great honor to know you.”

He then reached into his pocket, pulled out the gun, and put it up to his head. It was over before I could even shout for him to stop.

My ears rang with the loud noise of the discharged weapon in such a small space. The room immediately filled with stink of charred flesh and a strange ozone smell. All I could do was stand there in shock as the Chief’s body slumped back against the chair and the gun in his now lifeless hand clattered to the floor.

I stood there for an undetermined amount of time paralyzed and unable to think, not wanting to stare at the lifeless eyes or the charred hole now drilled through his head, but I could not look away. My mind completely stuck on the shock of how this could have happened and wondering what I could have done to stop it.

Moments later, the lights overhead dimmed to red and an ear-splitting shriek filled the tiny room. It caused me to put my hands to my ears.

At some point, I found myself on the floor, bringing up the meal I had eaten in the commissary. I didn’t stop until I was dry heaving.

I felt arms pick me up from the floor. They steadied me on my feet. Zahnians now filled the tiny room. I hadn’t even heard them come in. Two of them took firm grips on my arms and led me from the room. I let them guide me. I was too unsettled to do it myself as my mind fumbled for understanding.