Joel
26th of April, 649
The discordant beep of the alarm clock roused Joel from sleep, bringing back the crushing tide of reality with it. He'd dreamt of such beautiful things - and her, again, in no small part due to that call. Forbidden things, he thought, the old tendrils of rot creeping just outside the walls of the castle he'd built. He tried in vain to push the memories out and away, snoozing the clock and rolling over to snuggle into Espee - only to find a bundle of blankets and a comforter at the center of their bed. He settled on holding that and drifted back to a light sleep until the alarm went off once more.
Joel got dressed and walked out into the living room, where Espee sat on the couch, eating a bowl of cereal. On the Technivision was one of the Empire's morning programs, Cooking is Great! - Joel had been dismissive of but knew Espee enjoyed zoning out to it as she woke up. A burly man with a red apron smiled as he poured a copious amount of vodka into the rind of an avocado, then put both into a blender. Espee's eyes didn't leave the screen as Joel kissed her on the cheek.
"Good morning, sweetpea," Joel said, and Espee turned to him.
"Was wondering when you'd wake up. Heard that thing go off three times in a row, you know."
"Three?"
Espee nodded. Joel felt sheepish.
"Ah, well. At least I got out of bed, that's a plus, right?"
"Mm. Joel, do you have a minute? Can you sit with me?"
"Sure, sweetpea."
"Well, I know it's early and I don't want to bombard you as soon as you get up, but it's pretty important."
The man on the Technivision poured the mixture directly from the blender pitcher into his mouth. Joel flinched.
"Of course. As long as we can turn this dreck off," he said, taking a seat next to Espee. He rubbed her back gently.
"No, leave it on. It’s weird, but it’s comforting.” She placed a hand on his leg. “Joel, I know you've been working late almost every night now, and I know that you've been working hard for us. I just... well, I miss you in the evenings. I like our time together, and it makes me feel sad when we can't have that time. Do you think you could talk to that Empire guy to negotiate even one night off a week?"
"I don't know, honey. I don't know. They're breathing down our necks to the point where he's staying in Costa Sintra just to be closer to Cygnus to check in on us. It's a rough time for us."
"Not even one night? Do I need to talk to him?"
"Esp. That isn't necessary."
"I'm just saying! I think it's ridiculous that they expect you to be away like that. Does Lucas need to go in today, too?"
"I think he said he needs to stay here and study today, so we're working around that. Almost finals time, isn't it?"
"It is," Espee said. "But what happens when he's done with school? What if he decides to just stop going to work at the workshop?"
"Esp, that's a lot of questions. Let me get some coffee and I'll answer..."
"Joel, seriously."
"What?"
"Look, I'm worried, alright? It feels like ever since you started this project that things have been getting weird around here. It's enough to make me sleep poorly enough to be up this early."
The sunrise was just barely cracking above the horizon.
"The stress is messing with me. I hate this feeling, Joel. Do whatever you have to do, I need you here sometimes, okay?"
Joel gave Espee a squeeze. "I'll see what I can do. I can't promise a miracle, but maybe - just maybe - that guy'll concede a day. You know how the Empire works, though."
Espee leaned against Joel, and he rubbed her arm as he pulled her closer. She smelled good.
"I'm not mad at you, you know," she said, "but I hate all this work. It was like this in Alaeris and now it's like this here, too. Keeps you away from me and Ceres way too much."
"Espee, sweetpea. You know that if we're able to knock this out of the park that it might be the last project I have to do for these people. If we're successful and have it done before the deadline..."
"But what if you don't?" She looked at Joel with concerned eyes. "What if it all goes to shit and you lose the contract?"
"Esp, please don't think of it like that. We're going to get it done one way or another."
"That's what I'm afraid of. How long before you're just sleeping at the workshop at night? You're going to end up working yourself to death, and for what, money?"
"I wouldn't go as far to say that."
"Well, I just did, Joel Leonart. I love you, and I want you to be here for a long time. Did you forget that?"
"Of course not," Joel riposted, "and the same to you." He kissed her forehead. As he pulled away, she studied his face carefully.
"I don't know about you, Joel. For as long as we've been together, you seem like you get possessed about certain things and just drive yourself into the ground. How can I keep that from happening here, now?"
"I don't know," Joel shrugged. "But it's never been a problem, has it? Have I driven myself into the ground yet?"
The room grew silent, save for the hushed murmur of the Technivision. The man on the screen was using a cheese grater to grate skin off another man's back into a large wading pool full of pasta. Joel grimaced.
"Has it?"
"A little, yes," Espee said. "Ceres is the most upset by all of it, you know. You missed a lot of her childhood on that Empire Business. She hasn't been too thrilled with it coming back again."
"As she shouldn't be. Cybele knows I hate it too."
"Then why do it?"
"Money. Securing our future. Terra Promissa, Espee."
Espee's eyes lit up at the words. The Promised Land. The dream they'd been chasing for the entirety of their two decades together.
"If you're certain, Joel. I'm just worried, and I hope you understand why."
Joel's SGNL device buzzed.
"Ah, blazes. I promised the guys I would open the workshop early today since we won't have Lucas. Shandi must be there already."
"I won't keep you," Espee said, fingers interlaced with Joel's. "Try as I might, though."
"Would that I could stay, Esp. I'll see you later, alright? I'll let you know if anything comes up."
"Be careful, okay? We're not getting any younger - you need to take care of your body before it gives up on you."
"I'll try better," Joel said, and Espee looked unenthused. "I'll take it easy more today. You can take that to the bank."
"Love you," she said, squeezing Joel's hand as he left the living room and walked out of the house.
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By the time noon came around, Joel felt like his arms and legs were made of bricks. Espee was right - he had been pushing himself entirely too hard. He called for Shandi and Billy to join him on a bench along the wall to take a quick break and to survey their progress.
"You alright, old man?" Shandi asked, patting Joel on the back. "Lookin' a little pale. You eat anything this morning, aya?"
"I'm fine," Joel said, exhaling. He had a protein bar on the drive in but knew that wasn't enough to energize him the entire day. There was food in the minifridge in the office, but most of it was frozen, microwaveable junk. "Thanks for the concern, though."
"Phew, we've done a whole lot so far. I'm hungry as blazes," Billy said, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. He looked up at the scaffolding around what had become quite a formidable piece of machinery. The Terradrill had come partially assembled, but Joel's team had been put in charge of its final assembly. It was no easy task - a typical Empire build team would have upwards of twenty members doing the work, and Joel lamented not having the extra hands. Lucas did a good job, but he was too new, too green to really be much use. He was good at saving time by fetching tools, but when he would actively try to help, Joel admitted to himself - albeit regrettably - that the boy was more a hindrance than a help.
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"Yo, Joel, you wanna come with? Shandi and me were talkin' about getting some lunch at the Copper Stallion. C'mon, it'll be our treat."
"I'm sorry, I've got to stay behind. Our liaison's supposed to be stopping in again today, and I need to make sure that I'm here when he arrives."
"Man, again? That guy is so far up your ass he's probably finding chewing gum, aya," Shandi said, shaking his head. "How long we got, 30 minutes? I wanna be outta here by 1900 tonight, I promised my girl we'd go get some drinks an’ watch that show she likes."
"Take an hour," Joel said, and Shandi raised his eyebrows.
"Man, you sure you're alright?" Shandi asked. "You're gonna work yourself to death if you don't take a break, too."
"I'll be alright. Go on now, get some lunch. I'll be here when you get back."
"Alright boss. Well, we'll head out then."
"See you in about an hour," Joel nodded as Shandi and Billy walked out of the bay door to Billy's truck.
Joel returned to his office and sat back in his chair, kicking his feet up on the desk. He was expecting yet another visit from Victor anytime, at least that's what the SGNL message had said this morning. The device in his pocket buzzed - after the other day's call from Sephie, each new buzz sent a wave of anxiety through his blood. As much as he enjoyed talking with her again, he knew it was a dangerous thing to be doing. She loves you, though, Joel thought, a bitterness to the voice echoing in his head. And you? You feed it. You keep the fire burning.
He pulled the SGNL from his pocket to see a message from Espee, who had sent pictures of a variety of dresses that she wanted his opinion on for a future date together. Joel felt guilty for his thoughts, but hastily replied, emphatic about a red dress in particular.
Joel sat up quickly as he heard the closing of a car door - Victor was right on time.
"Leonart, you in there?"
Joel stepped out of the office and waved at Victor, who flipped up the shades on his sunglasses.
"My goodness, this thing's a hulk, isn't it?" Victor said, giving a thin smile as he surveyed the Terradrill. "I see that progress is moving along on pace, is it not?"
Joel nodded.
"That's good. That's what the Emperor expects, anyway."
He ran a hand through his slicked-back dark hair. It looked freshly cut, freshly dyed - he'd always been terribly conscious of the flecks of grey. Joel noticed his outfit as unusual compared to his usual business wear - a polo shirt and khaki shorts seemed rather strange until he remembered what Victor had said about vacationing in Costa Sintra.
"How's the vacation going?" Joel asked.
"We just got in yesterday around midday, actually. We brought Persephone with us since she said she's been missing the beach, but as soon as we all got up this morning Ciara said she went off on her own. To be honest, I didn't expect her to hang around, but I wasn't expecting her to go that quickly, you know?"
"Heh," Joel smiled. "Bet she'd get along with Ceres."
"Strong wills for sure," Victor nodded. "But yes, for as much of it as I've been able to enjoy, it's been a nice time. Ciara's been on me about stopping at Mayo's on the pier with that Zaus seafood or whatever-have-you it's called. Apparently the chef there's one of the best in the world? Have you heard of it? I'm not much for fish."
"I think so," Joel said. "Not too much of a 'high culture' food guy myself, though."
Victor let the tough façade down for a moment. "I remember back in the days when Ceres was what - a toddler? - that we'd go to that one pizza place and get probably the worst pizza I've ever had in my life, and you'd inevitably eat an entire pie of it."
"Ah yeah, can't forget that. Scoot's or something? They closed that place down not long after you moved west. Something or other about 'innumerable health code violations'. Bandages in pizza sauce and whatnot. Enough to make ya want to projectile vomit, that's for certain."
"Disgusting. But anyway, I wanted to bring you up to speed on a few things that the Emperor discussed with me when I spoke with him last. It shouldn't be long."
"I'm listening."
"He's really pushing me to have this done far sooner than later. Like, enormously soon. Way sooner than I know you and your team can handle."
"Yeah? So how does he anticipate us being able to handle that?"
"He said that he doesn't care how it gets done, he wants it to get done."
"What do you think he means?"
"I think he means he wants you practically living in this workshop until the job's done. Starting tomorrow."
"Do I get the 29th off at least, still?"
"Your birthday, isn't it? I suppose he's still a human and will probably allow that, but no guarantees."
"Espee'll wring his neck when she's finished wringing mine, then."
Victor smiled slyly. "Can't say I'd blame her. Cybele only knows that man needs sense knocked into him every now and then. He can't help but be swayed by the people around him, and the people around him just want to eat him alive. But that's well beside the point. I'll put in an order to my team to have some sort of couch-bed sent to the workshop for arrival tomorrow."
Joel bit his tongue. He didn't like any of this, but he knew he had to suck it up and deal. He was more worried about how Espee would react. As his thoughts drifted, his SGNL device in his pocket buzzed, but he ignored it. It buzzed three more times in quick succession, and he felt a familiar sense of dread from it.
"Joel, I know this bothers you, I do. I don't like it for you or for your family, but remember what we're doing here, alright? This is temporary."
Temporary. Five years just about in this podunk nowhere town was not Joel's definition of temporary, but it was true - it had all been a part of their meticulous planning. The only changes to the script over the last decade had been meeting Lucas as well as the Emperor's sudden interest in Cygnus, and even though that presented a wrinkle in the planning, Joel knew that Victor had contingencies upon contingencies for ultimately getting them out of town and up into the mountains to the west.
"So what's ol' Draconis expecting? A fucking miracle? Gonna work me to the brink of exhaustion and go 'hey bud, thanks' and then what, they're gonna come marching in and mess everything up?"
"That's accurate," Victor chortled. "But there's a financial incentive to have it in before the deadline, as we've discussed in the past. The Emperor is fond of those who go above and beyond. Just... just don't do too good of a job that he's impressed by you. We need you below his radar."
"Got it," Joel nodded.
"There's a lot at stake here, Joel. I know we've talked about this numerous times, but it's so important that it's hard not to reiterate." Victor turned away; hands clasped behind his back. He walked out onto the cement outside of the workshop as he looked around.
"Joel. What we are planning is dangerous beyond all comparison, but it will change the world as we know it. Can you imagine? Peace between nations, union between the warring factions? It would be somewhere I would feel comfortable with Sephie having a future to grow in, perhaps for her future husband and maybe even children one day. And you - your daughter Ceres, that boy Lucas - we're making a better world for them."
He turned back to Joel, half-smiling.
"Hard to believe it's been almost ten years now since we crossed, isn't it? I still remember that day we met in Stormhill Ridge all too well."
"You... you did what you had to do. Just strange to think of how we got here, isn't it?" Joel said, and Victor looked thoughtful.
Victor had apprehended Joel for his affiliation with Renaissance - he had lied to Espee to keep both her and Ceres safe from the Empire's other agents about where he was during the detainment. Mercifully, it had only lasted a few days - they had found common ground on wanting a better world to raise their children, and instead of ending up in a work camp, Joel was released back to his family with the hooked barb of a future promise - the revival of Renaissance.
Victor's seemingly altruistic move was not done out of charity. He, like the fallen leader of Renaissance, had a similar interest in seeing House Draconis toppled from the Imperial throne - over three centuries of rule were more than enough, Victor had confided in him. It was a clandestine, terrifying partnership that Joel and Victor had, and deep down Joel knew that someday it might come to an abrupt and bloody ending.
These are the consequences of your choices, Joel Leonart, she had said to Joel back then. Sometimes the things that you're most afraid of are the ones you need to stare down the most. You won't survive otherwise. Sephie had been right.
"I would certainly deem it unconventional," Victor said. "I need to get going here shortly as Ciara is undoubtedly getting irritated with me for being out here, but I wanted to know - did you have any other questions for me?"
"I'll let you know."
"Good. Keep in touch."
Victor turned to walk back to the large black SUV but paused halfway.
"Oh. If that couch isn't delivered tomorrow, give me a call, alright? We'll see what we can do for you."
"Thanks," Joel said with a wave as Victor got into the car and drove off into the distance.
Now alone, Joel checked his SGNL, which had been buzzing intermittently throughout his talk with Victor. His suspicions were immediately confirmed.
"Is Dad with you?"
"I want to say I'm sorry in advance"
"He gets so high-strung sometimes I can't stand it"
"I miss you"
Joel entered the office and closed the door behind him. He took a seat at the desk, focusing on the SGNL. He replied more eagerly than he intended to.
"He was here, yes. But you're pretty close, aren't you?"
Joel looked at the clock - it was now right about 1300 - but there were still no signs of Shandi or Billy.
Buzz.
"Closer than I've been in many years."
"Congrats, by the way. I knew you could do it."
"You always believed in me, Joel."
"I won't take credit for it, Seph."
"Well I'm crediting you, so you'd better take it."
"Stop it already."
"No. You were there for me when I needed you to be. No one else tried like you did."
"I almost ruined everything."
"Shut up! No, you didn't."
Joel put his head back at the memory, setting the phone down on the table. He picked it up after a few moments of just sitting there and breathing, knowing he needed to write back.
"I've got to go, Seph. Lots of work to do."
"I know. I believe in you. I love you."
Joel put the phone back in his desk and stood as he heard the sound of wheels crunching gravel - Shandi and Billy had returned. He thought about how disappointed Espee would be in that he'd practically be living in the workshop, but his disappointment melted into a twist of concern and strange excitement over what Sephie had said to him.
I love you.
No matter how many times he had heard her say it in their time together, it never got old. Now... now is no different.
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The clock read just past 2000 as Joel stepped back out onto the floor of the workshop. With Shandi gone for the night, Joel watched as Billy put away the remaining tools and locked them up.
"Work's done, boss man. I'm tuckered out. Think maybe I can go home earlier tomorrow?"
"We'll see. I might be having some late nights here soon enough."
"Ouch. I take it the meeting didn't go so hot?"
"No, it was fine. Just directives from above our heads. All I can say about it, really."
Billy nodded knowingly.
"Aight, well, I'm gonna head out and check on my dad and make sure he's sober. He's been doing pretty good with the one-drink-a-night thing at least, but me coming home so late is hard on him."
"Go on then. Anything else that's left I'll take care of, alright?"
Billy nodded. "Thanks, Joel. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bright and early," Joel said, smirking. Billy smiled and waved as he left the building. He'd done a good enough job cleaning up that Joel really didn't have anything at all left to do, so he went back into his office. He knew he'd have to be leaving for home soon, but he didn't want to leave quite yet. A buzz from the SGNL in his pocket all but confirmed that desire. He picked up the SGNL and his heart froze as he read the words from Sephie on the screen.
"Joel, it's urgent. I need to see you. Soon."