“Why not?”
“Because this is the final time you and I will share a table.”
Her words stunned Ryllen but did not surprise him.
“You’re casting me off.”
“I will not have a killer in this family. But I am not sending you away without promise of a more hopeful future. There is someone in Pinchon capable of breaking the encryption. He is ex-Chancellor. A man who went native many years ago and lives as one of us. He works freelance intelligence for the seamasters.”
He pounded the table. “I am no killer.”
“Delusions are not your strength, Ryllen. I used my contacts in Nantou to retrieve this man’s particulars. You will find them on the memglass. I recommend you locate him. Once you prove your birthright, you will be able to dissolve any legal obligations to Jee. Even change your name. I give you a path, Ryllen. Take it now, while time stands in wait.”
He grabbed the memglass and stood, staring at this tiny woman in disbelief. At some level, this was the moment he longed for. It was the release he sought every time he acted on orders from Green Sun or gave Kai love and comfort. So, why did it hurt?
“My brother. My sisters. Do they know about this?”
“No. I never speak to them about you. Nor do they ask.”
She stared ahead, as if he were still seated. Ryllen wasn’t going to let her get away with it so easily.
“Did you ever love me?”
She finished her tea. “As much as your Honorable Gran? No. More than your Father? At times.”
He turned and started away. He thought better of it and pivoted.
“For the record, I loved you all. You took me in and gave me your name. I thought that was enough.” He laughed. “They’re right about me, Mother. If I can still call you that. They say I’m the Idiot of The Lagos. And maybe I am. But I’m also a soldier, and I’m going to protect The Lagos. This is my home. I don’t care about Earth. If I have to kill people to protect my home, I will.
“But you, Mother? You’ve given up.”
She broke from her trance and met his eyes with a resigned smile.
“Yes, Ryllen. I suppose I have.”
So much still hung on his chest, but what was the point? Ryllen fumed as he walked through the suite for the final time. He passed the door to his bedroom without a flicker of curiosity. Had she already removed his things and redecorated? Might he find anything of sentimental value?
I’m not that boy anymore.
Ryllen ignored all those he passed in the building’s corridors. He shaded his eyes from the suspicious men who shared his lift to the lobby. Only when he hopped inside his rifter and closed the dome did the finality cut deep.
He studied the controls through blurred vision and wiped his eyes. Then the tears came too fast. The pain seared his chest.
Ryllen tried to hold back the storm, but his desolation overtook him in furious, unceasing waves.
Only when he found the shadowy corner where his rage was hiding did Ryllen discover how to fight back. He saw the future, where all those named Jee would join the chorus of others who called him the Idiot of The Lagos. They’d mock his memory and degrade him to their friends – the ones who remained, that is. In time, they’d lose interest in this playful banter and simply forget he ever came to Hokkaido, bringing new wealth and influence to Jee.
Play your cudfrucking games, but never cross my path.
Ryllen said nothing to Kai when he returned home. He threw the memglass into a jewelry box along with his collection of rings, necklaces and braiding bands.
His birthplace was more than two hundred light-years away, its star almost indiscernible on the clearest of nights. Once the home of a great empire, now engulfed in a civil war – the least civilized world in the Collectorate.
“Earth,” he whispered. “Chancellors. I spit on you.”
He fell into Kai’s arms, and together they slept through the afternoon. Long after the sun fell, they gathered at a nondescript location in the Zozo District and turned their eyes toward the next phase of their service to Green Sun.
Lan Chua, more charismatic than usual, laid out his vision and summoned his personal security, who entered with a treasure trove of weapons. Ryllen never saw such a variety of killing tools in one place. Some were Hokki design, some left over from the Chancellor evacuation, but several smuggled from other colonies.
Chua’s guards explained the full inventory, distinguishing the simple point-and-shoot from the more intricate devices which required special training. Lan turned to each of his captains and lieutenants and asked a simple question.
“Will you kill anyone who is an enemy of The Lagos?”
Each answered in the affirmative, which Ryllen thought was all too easy. Lan came to him last, perhaps because this was Ryllen’s first meeting among the inner circle.
When Lan asked the question, Ryllen felt all the weight of his past dissolve. He grinned.
“What are we waiting for?” He told Lan. “Let’s start tonight.”
3 Death of the Idiot
Standard Year 5364
R YLLEN JEE LOVED THE COMPOSITION of a GB-X Mark 4 pistol, which fit snug into a semi-closed fist. A tap of the thumb triggered the Mark 4 to flip open, drop its ten flash pegs into the dispensary cylinder, extend the suppressor tunnel four inches, and acquire a target. Quick. Quiet. As useful in the shadows as in the midst of a madding crowd. The flash pegs were Chancellor design, but modifications to the gun belonged to Hokki genius. Green Sun bought their stash from a new wave of arms dealers based near Puratoon, on the continent. Ryllen coined its nickname: The
