“You...you, Dav. You learned under Sportsmaster Tavin?”
Dav nodded, his eyes never leaving his mother.
“Tavin was the one who taught me that trick, the one I just used on your mother, here. A Slingball move. I was your age, then. It was a move...a move to take the ball from the other team, and then hold the player while you passed it...passed it to the one who’d score. I always passed it to your father...and he’d get the glory. Every time. He always got...” Narb looked quietly at the back of Mother’s head. “Always got what he wanted. Glory, popularity, girls. Everything. And I was his support, his slingman. Well, now...” Narb breathed again. Took a second breath. “Now, Dav, I have a chance to help him, and you. Dav, who’s in charge now?”
“You are, Councilman Narb.”
“Say it again.”
“You are in charge, Councilman Narb.”
“Good.” He was calming down. Dav was, too. The Councilman’s face had lost its bright red hue, and was returning to its usual pasty white. The skin on his right temple showed a big, purple bruise where his mother had bashed him with the datapad.
“That was a nice little trick, Layda, with the drinks? Putting the antidote to the gas in the bludrink, trying to keep me from getting it initially? Unfortunately, it will ultimately be ineffectual. Now,” Narb said, still gasping a bit, “young Dav. You have a chance to save the life of your mother, father, and yourself. Do you understand? Nod if you understand.”
Dav nodded.
“Alright. Good. Now let me think again. Good. Dav, Layda, you may not believe me, but I argued on our behalf. Those very powerful people I mentioned? I lied about them not wanting you dead. They were ready to have the three of you die in a little ‘transport accident,’ but I convinced them that if Dav were in a place far away where you could not save him, but close enough that they could get to him if they chose, that you two, Layda and Daak, would behave yourselves. My associates agreed, but sent those walking slabs of DNA and grafted muscle,” he nodded at the now prone guards, “along with me in case things went badly. Do you understand? Good. Now, Dav? Pick up my datapad. You have it? Good. See the small red dot in the lower corner? When you put your thumb there, a recruitment droid will be dispatched to pick you up. You’ll be graduated from school without having to take your final evaluations, and join the ranks of the Empire. You’ll be a stormtrooper, maybe even a pilot.”
“You’re sentencing my son to death, Narb. If you still have any feelings for me, you won’t do this.”
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“It’s not a death sentence, Layda! We’re not at war. And it’s because I still have feelings for you that I am doing this, Layda! Don’t you see? Don’t you see? This is the best we can do. This isn’t my fault! It’s Daak’s! Your husband could have made his inquiries quietly, but he had to be the hero, had to drive a blast-dozer in the middle of important people’s living rooms, had to stir things up and let everyone know he was the one crusading to remove all corruption from his sector. What did he think would happen? Did he think these people would roll over and give up, just because some old sec-school slingball star told them to?”
“Um, I don’t want to seem ungrateful, Councilman Narb, but if you really do, ah, care about my mother? Could you take your arm off her neck, and the gun away from her head?”
Narb looked at himself, then loosened the grip he had on Dav’s mother, though he still kept the gun to her temple. “Dav, your father’s let you live a sheltered life. Believe me, right now you’d be safer in a war zone than you are in this system. At least there you know who your friends and enemies are. More important, your mother...she’s dead anyway if I can’t convince them your father isn’t a threat. And I can only do that if you’re removed from their embrace. So, Dav, look at that red dot. I’m going to give you to the count of five, four...”
“Dav! Don’t do it! Run!”
“Think of your mother, boy. If you love your mother, and your father, you’ll save their lives. Three, two...”
“Dav, No! Dav...”
Dav’s thumb hovered over the red spot on the datapad. Glowing white arrows spun around it, pointing to it and coaxing him to press. The face of the beautiful woman in the Imperial officer’s uniform suddenly filled the screen as she smiled and winked at him. “Don’t hesitate, soldier,” she cooed. “Wouldn’t you rather be on my side?”
“How do I know if you’ll let her go?” Dav said, his thumb still hovering over the dot.
“Do you really think you’re in a position to negotiate, Dav Eccles? Do you? I have a gun to your mother’s head! Why are you even talking to me? Press the button, and you give yourself and your parents a chance to live. Press the button, Dav, and I leave this place. After I go, call the security droids on those sticks of meat lying in the dining room if you want, I don’t care. Do you hear me? I want to go from here every bit as badly as you want me to leave. One!” Narb shouted this last one while pulling back the safety hammer on the back of the pistol.
Dav pushed the button.
END CHAPTER ONE.
Chapter 2: Jada
Jada Sanddancer stood up and peered through her binoculars and looked at the desert. Still there, still flat, still nothing around as far as the electronic eyes could see. Smiling, she lowered the binoculars and knelt back down to work some more on the vaporator.
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TO BE CONTINUED....