“You know, I’ve never expected to see you like this ever again,” said Wemer with a smile. “I feel like this is the definition of ‘down but not out’.” He let out a subtle chuckle. He was a man with hazel eyes and short light brown hair swept sideways. His chin had a dimple and was square. Overall, to Ehka’s eyes, he was a handsome man. Furthermore, he had always acted with dignity and class. If there was a classical gentleman, that was him. He was a class A esper as well and was capable.

“I will be honest here. I never expected it to turn out like this, either. In fact, I never expected to settle down here,” she said, taking a deep breath of semi-regret. Her stay at the Duchess’ boobs was supposed to be temporary. As soon as she found a new way of living, she was going to move on. Her life would have been significantly different if she fled to the Freedom colony. Would that choice have turned out to be better? Given the higher living standards of the colony, it could well have. She had to work hard to raise the living standards of the Duchess’ boobs. She felt that it was really pitiful to live here initially. Space was inherently a boring place to be because everything took days if not longer. When she ordered something she needed, it’d take over 100 days for it to arrive at a cost of premium. She vowed to change the sad reality and she did.

She continued, “Anyway, so you are telling me that…”

The Podlezl council, which was divided into lower and upper council chambers, did not want their sovereignty exercised in the Cassandra belt. Instead, they left the place as a lawless zone so that criminals would flee there. It was a way to save money by not chasing them down and putting them in jails. They expected the Cassandra belt to police itself, and it did. Some select people like Duke were chosen as a secret contract within the Cassandra belt. Their job was simple in concept. Just live in the Cassandra belt and observe. Duke did just that. Years after Ehka came along to his place and started to live with him, the policy was turned upside down. A new political party took majority in the lower council chamber, and their policy regarding the Cassandra belt differed from the previous party. They wanted the belt to be integrated into the republic. This new direction of the policy inadvertently made Duke a far more important figure and, as a direct consequence, the presence of his female partner, Ehka, came to their attention. It didn’t take long for them to find out that she was an ex-knight. This fact made Duke and her the perfect couple to carry out their new agenda. Wemer, her former boss, was asked to contact her on their behalf to restore a connection with her. She was, after all, fired from her job for something that wasn’t her fault. Wemer shrugged with a crooked grin on a holographic screen.

“Whatever the case, they’ve made me contact you for obvious reasons. Now that you hold some importance to them, they are trying to bring you back to the fold.”

“I am not going back, if that is what you are asking.”

She had a family back here. She had a son and a fine guy in Duke. Although they were not legally married, he remained faithful to her. Besides, she had completely gotten used to the place. Leaving would only destroy a new lifestyle she had worked hard to establish. She worked hard on herself as well, losing weight in order to become more sexually attractive to Duke. She lost about 15kg and maintained the weight loss.

“No, no, they wouldn’t want that. They want you to stay over there.”

She scoffed. “Fucking politicians. They are always fucking the same,” she muttered. He chuckled in return but said no word in response. “By the way, have you guys ever arrested the Witch?”

“Nope,” he replied promptly. “Do you really think we can catch a class S esper? Not in a million years.”

A class S esper was known to be capable of destroying a plant even. They were just too powerful to be caught.

“As far as I am aware, and I am speaking as a class A esper, the only person who can stop the Witch is the Asperger,” he said firmly.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “And that ain’t going to happen.”

“Of course, not,” he gleefully agreed. “If rumors are to be believed, the Asperger was the Witch’s mentor.”

The Witch and the Asperger…, they were the two most powerful espers in the universe. Nobody could stop them, not by force or by laws. They literally stood above the laws. She recalled what the Witch told her not long before she’d be fired.

“Wemer…, I don’t think I’ve told you this, but the Witch predicted my downfall.”

“Oh? What did she say?”

“She basically said it wasn’t a coincidence that I was sent after her repeatedly. She said it’d be my last time seeing her. And then … I was let go soon after.”

He laughed pleasantly. “She saw through it, huh. Not unexpected. Those class S espers are geniuses.”

This was a common trait among class S espers. It was that they were beyond being geniuses. It was said that they could perhaps see into the future. It felt as if a lot of unreasonable rumors were being made for them, but it was hard to dismiss them outright after seeing what they were capable of.

“Anyway, do I have your cooperation?”

“Do I even have a choice?”

“I don’t believe you have. They are … trying to be nice. It’s always better to work with them while they are being nice.”

It wouldn’t be hard for them to forcefully drive out Duke and her out of the Cassandra belt. Ehka knew, from her first hand experience, that it was easy for them to get rid of civilians without much feedback. The media and journalists were always easily bought with some credits. Honest ones wouldn’t have survived.

“I still have to ask this, though,” she said. “What do we get from this?”

If the Cassandra belt was to be integrated into the republic, their roles would end. And, given their backgrounds, it wasn’t unfeasible to think that they might be gotten rid of once their usefulness expired. Again, she had already experienced this first hand.

“I do understand where you are coming from and honestly I don’t have an answer for it. I can guess, with reasonable accuracy, that they will probably want you to be gone once they have what they want.”

“I appreciate your honesty, Wemer.”

“I cannot lie to you, given what you’ve gone through. You know the answer even without asking anyway,” he said while beaming a sad grin.

Duke and her time was limited was what he was essentially saying. For the time being, however, they had to comply, and she would need to find a way to escape their grasp eventually. She would need to scheme.

“Very well, we will comply with the request. That would mean I have their backing, yes?”

“You do, yes. They are waiting for some sort of chance to come by and meddle in naturally. I am sure that you know what I am trying to say.”

She beamed a crooked grin. “I can easily create such an opportunity. It will take some time, though.”

“We will wait for that. Be mindful of the election circle, though. They want something to occur within three years.”

“That’s more than enough.”

Due to the longevity of human lifespans, elections were no longer held frequently. Additionally, the Podlezel government was no longer fully democratic. It was the same for their arch nemesis, the United Solar System Federation, as well. The election circle for lower council members was 12 years. Additionally, there was a merit system where a counselor could be sworn in without being elected.

“Then I shall wait for good news.” Then the communication was over. Taking a deep breath, she rubbed the bridge of her nose with her eyes shut.

“Just when I found a home…, this happens… Fucking hell. Give me a break, will you.”

She had no choice but to comply. And, in doing so, she doomed her future in the Cassandra belt. Once they got what they wanted, there was no doubt in her mind that they’d be asked to be relocated elsewhere, possibly with a sizable payment as a reward.

“Would Duke even agree to this?” She wondered aloud. As far as she was aware, he was fully satisfied with his life here. He had told her repeatedly that he was fully committed to settling down right here at the Duchess’ boobs. She didn’t pay too much mind to his words back then because she believed that it was his way of keeping her here. With the situation changed, however… If he did mean what he said…, it was going to pose some issues.

“Mom.” A boy flew into her office with the door sliding open.

“Chatur, my boy.” Turning around in her chair, she welcomed her son with open arms. She was never a fan of children but she absolutely adored her own child. The boy ran into her arms, and she embraced him warmly. Caressing his head, she asked.

“What’s up?”

“Are we going to leave?”

She paused momentarily. “Did you eavesdrop?”

“I didn’t mean to.”

Her son was ten years old. He was just old enough to be able to understand politics.

“We may have to,” she answered earnestly. “Do you like Rocksea?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been out there.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

That was true. The boy had never left the station. Well, that wasn’t technically true, for he was born on New Earth. Obviously, he would have no recollection of that. He wasn’t told, either.

“Are you bored?”

“I sort of am. There isn’t much to do around here.”

There was no one around his age. In fact, the next youngest person was Vazken who was around twenty years older. He never really complained about that, however. He was a good boy or perhaps he didn’t know any better. The station didn’t get any media channels from outside. There was, however, an official news channel operated by the Duchess’ boobs station, which was … nothing more than just some text highlighting any upcoming events if any and incidents.

“Do you want a job then?”

He raised his face from her chest. “Really?” He sounded excited.

The reality was that there wasn't much a boy of his age could do around the station. The half of the station was dedicated to the brothel and its disco bar. The other half was a glorified warehouse. She had to find him a job that was both exciting and not too inappropriate. It was certainly easier said than done.

“I will give you a badger to play around.”

The boy’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Really?!” He left her embrace and started to bounce around the room, literally.

“Only within the docking bay. Get used to it first, alright?”

“Of course! Anything you say, mom!”

In a corner of her mind, she felt that it was probably for the better. It was probably better to leave Rocksea behind and settle down in a more civilized area for her son’s growth and future. And then she thought of Vazken, a rare local to the area. He was cool-headed, rational, and earnest. She had worked with him for a considerable amount of time at the moment and had never seen him go awry. She could hardly imagine a kid growing in such an environment like Rocksea and growing up as decently as he did.

“Is it down to parents?” she wondered. Her son had already left the room, overjoyed. He was ten, so it was about the right time for him to get used to a spacecraft.

“... Time to meet Duke then.”

In space, time was a weird concept. Because there was no distinction between day and night, everyone worked at different hours. Businesses closing at certain hours were quite rare, and everything was supposed to run 24/7. Between Duke and Ehka, they worked at different hours. The former, being the owner and the head bartender of the brothel and the bar, he worked usually in the busiest hours. Ehka, being essentially a warehouse manager, worked whenever she was needed. This resulted in them not really meeting each other awake. She had to stay up and wait quite a bit before Duke entered their room to take a break.

“Oh? You are up?” he said upon seeing her in her pajamas. They shared the same room but was divided by a thin wall and a door. Each had their own bed and bathroom. Their beds weren’t for sleeping. They were for sexual intercourses. Sleeping in zero gravity meant they’d strap themselves to a wall and sleep as is. In fact, trying to lay down was a bit of an ordeal in zero gravity.

“Hey, honey,” she said while beaming a charming smile. Flying forward, they shared a hug.

“There has to be a reason why you are still up, right?”

“Yeah, sadly. Take a shower. It’s not really about us, though, if you are worried about that.”

“Thank Goddess.”

It was about them actually. But she was not talking about their relationship. They were “even”, meaning he couldn’t stop her if she wanted to leave. After about ten minutes, he left his shower unit and did not bother to put anything on him except his magnet shoes, blatantly showing off his muscular figure. She didn’t mind. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen each other naked anyway.

“God, that was a long day,” he muttered weakly with a loose towel around his shoulders. “So, what is it? It has to be serious, though, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.” And she told him what went down, explaining her conversation with Wemer and the political situation of the republic. He didn’t look too surprised.

“You know, when I was sent here, it was due to a plea deal.”

His charge was a first degree murder. He broke the neck of his brother-in-law with his bare hands after finding out that he had been abusing his sister and ended up killing her. “I took it because I felt it was better to be out here than sticking around.” He, then, chuckled. “How life works is mysterious sometimes.”

They were sitting next to each other on his bed with him being completely naked.

“They will relocate us once this is over.”

“They are not gonna let us live on New Earth, are they?”

She shook her head gently. “Creg is going to be where we will be allowed to settle on, probably.”

image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4889/i53FfW.png]

It was a planet with 0.6 gravity and had no breathable atmosphere. Pressurized domes were required for humans to live. It wasn’t objectively a bad place to live but it was objectively an inferior place compared to New Earth.

“Would that planet be better for our son?” he wondered aloud, placing his hand on her thigh.

“He could enter an academic institution and make friends of his age,” she replied, placing her hand on top of his. “But I don’t feel formal education gets anywhere to be honest and friends are virtually meaningless until you come to adulthood.”

“True that. You need connections more than degrees.”

“Which I do have. In order to maintain the connections, we need to follow their demands.”

She had connections indeed with the knights and, subtly, to a political party. If they disobeyed, those connections would vanish.

She added quickly, “But we do have a choice in this matter. We could escape to the Freedom colony.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Before or after?”

“After. We don’t want to be wanted. They won’t mind us disappearing too much after the job is done.”

He slowly scratched his chin and remained silent.

She said, “We will lose connections but we will be completely free.”

“Reaching that place would be a problem on its own, though, unless we make our move before they get the news. Even then…,” he trailed off with his face darkening. Apparently, he thought that the chance was slim, which she agreed.

“It is up to you. I will accept your decision. But I am thinking of contacting Sae the Witch, should you choose to flee to the Freedom colony.”

“The Witch?” he raised his voice, looking sideways in her direction. “Do you know her?”

“I don’t,” she replied flatly. “But then I do kind of know her. It’s kind of complicated.”

“Nothing is simple when a class S esper is involved. Do you know her or not?”

“Objectively speaking, I don't know.” She then proceeded to explain what went down before she was fired from the Knights. He nodded along, understanding the reason for her vague answer.

“I see. Yeah, I get a feeling that the Witch saw this coming a decade ago. How, I don’t have a fucking clue.”

“I have a feeling that she will answer my call, should I really need it.”

“God, this ain’t easy,” he said with a frustrated voice. “She might just kill us for fun.”

“Although the media loves to make a villain out of her, I know the truth. She generally does not kill people. When she does kill, they are connected to some sort of crime.”

Anyone who investigated the Witch knew this but was told to keep their mouths shut, and let the media do the badmouthing. The Knights had to respond whenever she was reported to be seen but had no meaningful way as well as will to make a serious attempt on arresting her therefore.

“Ehka, we aren’t exactly clean people, either,” he reminded her. “I’ve murdered a man.”

“But you did have a reason. Even the court saw your action justified.”

“Perhaps. I have a feeling that they were just looking for a pawn to use. Regardless, the opinion of the court wouldn’t matter to the Witch, would it?”

“That is … true.” Her voice weakened.

“This is gambling with lives. She could just kill me on the spot and there will be nothing anyone could do about it.”

“Trust me on this. She won’t do anything to us.”

“What’s making you so confident that she will help us to begin with?”

With her eyes downcast, she took a moment before answering.

“I feel like …, it’s just my gut feeling by the way, I feel like she was telling me to contact her later.”

“Ehka, that was over a decade ago.”

“I know. I know! There is another reason I am pushing for this.”

“What is it?”

“Well, two reasons actually. One, I don’t want them to have their ways with us. I am being defiant. Two, we cannot have more children on Creg.”

It was scientifically and medically proven that having a fetus grow in 1.0 gravity was most ideal. The 0.6 gravity of Creg was not enough to prevent issues. She felt that they wouldn’t allow her to stay on New Earth for any reason. Upon hearing this, his eyes went wide.

“You mean that?” he asked, raising his voice slightly in excitement.

“Yes, well, I dislike children in general. Not mine, though, apparently.”

He was well aware that she didn’t like children, thus he never asked for more. If she was willing, however, that changed everything for him. Settling down on Creg was no longer an option. The Freedom colony had 1.0 gravity. The colony was a light year away from the Solar system, meaning it was around 1,000 light years away from where they were. Conveniently, there was a subspace portal that’d take them over there directly in the outskirts of the Podlezel system. The United Solar System Federation refused to acknowledge their existence. Therefore, there was no subspace portal between the Solar system and the Freedom colony. However, due to its relatively short distance, it was still possible to reach there from the Solar system in two to four years.

“That changes everything then,” he admitted, nodding slowly.

“It does.”

“How will you contact the Witch?”

“Her base of operation is the Freedom colony. To be honest, I am going to ask Wemer for a favor. He is a nice and rational guy. I feel like he is going to help me.”

He chuckled. “Isn’t the Witch the arch nemesis of the Knights?”

“They can never catch her. He admitted that himself. The only ones who don’t get that are the councilors.”

“They may get it but may not be able to admit it to the public.”

Taking a deep breath, she let out a long sigh. “Perhaps.”

“Anyway, it’s good to know where you stand on our relationship, and thank you.”

“What is your decision?”

“Seems obvious to me. We are going to the Freedom colony.”

“I see.” She beamed a smile. She was leaning heavily to that idea as well. Once was enough in her mind. She was discarded like a cheap toy before, and they were going to do the same again. “Time to get working then.”

She had been rather gentle in the business expansions and getting deals. That was because she did not wish to disturb the balance of powers within Rocksea. Now that she needed a reason to go haywire, she was going to do exactly that. She had conducted a population census, and her rough number was that about 30,000 people were residing in Rocksea, which was actually way more than she ever expected. She assumed that less than 5,000 inhabited the asteroid belt. But that wasn’t an issue itself.

“See you later, Duke,” she said while standing up and glancing her eyes at his shrunken penis between his thighs. She was quite surprised how large it could get once erected. She was a virgin back then.

Anyway, needless to say, it was quite easy to set up the stage. At one point, she felt like she was walking into a trap because it felt a bit too easy. She thought it would take a few years. Well, it didn’t even take a full year.

“Yay,” she said gleefully, smiling. “Kamen took the bait.”

She was looking at a holographic monitor where her scouts throughout Rocksea were making reports in her office. She preferred text reports when it came to this because it’d give her time to disgust what she was seeing.

“Thanks, Vazken. You somehow helped me greatly.”

Because the guy reached out to Kamen organically, she didn’t need to pull any strings which could have backfired or have implications. There was very little chance of anyone suspecting anything. A broad smile surfaced on her face because everything was going perfectly so far. On the surface, she didn’t start the conflict. Kamen did.

“The stage is set. Time for actors to start dancing.”

Volume 1 / end