The Worker Prince (3 page)

Davi glanced over to where the bar manager and bouncer-bot stood watching the events unfold. “Aren’t they going to do anything about it?”

“His father’s head of the LSP, remember?” Yao said. “They can pull bar licenses whenever they want.”

Davi started to stand but Farien reached over and pulled him back down into his seat. Both of his friends shot him warning looks.

“Maybe you ladies would like to find somewhere more romantic to dine?” Davi suggested.

Their dates smiled. “That would be nice,” Vivi said.

Davi and his friends stood, taking the ladies by the elbows and leading them toward the exit.

As they waited beside the air taxi post outside, Davi glanced through the Bar Electric’s window and realized that Bordox and his friends had abandoned the requisitioned table. The blue air taxi arrived and Davi’s group climbed onto the two benches behind the cab-bot driver. As the door shut, Bordox and his friends appeared at the taxi stand, waiting impatiently for another taxi.

“He never gives up, does he?” Farien asked.

“Let’s make ourselves hard to follow,” Davi replied. “Taxi, take us to the starport please.”

“Of course, sir,” the cab-bot’s humanoid head whirled around to face front again and steered the auto taxi into the flow of traffic.

Their dates’ faces lit up. “The starport, really?” Jaqi said.

“We’re gonna take a little tour before we head to the restaurant,” Yao said.

The cab-bot consisted of a torso with two arms and a head, on which LEDs lit up when it talked, attached to a seat facing the control panel at the front of the air taxi. Created to take over simple tasks like answering phones or loading cargo, newer bots now performed even more complicated tasks, including some trusted with the safety of humans.

Davi relaxed as the air taxi turned between a row of buildings and rose up onto the main artery running through Legon, the capital city. While Davi and the others enjoyed the ride, chatting with their dates, the auto taxi executed a few more twists and turns on the transportation corridor before turning onto an off ramp marked with signs for the starport.

“You’re not gonna fly us to some remote star restaurant, are you?” Bela asked.

“Not really. We’re just trying to lose our friends,” Davi answered as the air taxi threw him forward hard against the safety bar and he grunted as their dates cried out in surprise. Then there was another bump as something hit them from behind.

They all whirled around to see another air taxi with the cab-bot disabled and Bordox at the wheel.

Farien cursed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Yao muttered.

Davi turned to the cab-bot. “Please outrun that taxi and take us to the north shore.”

The cab-bot’s facial LEDs lit up in the shape of a smile. “I am attempting to adjust our velocity, sir.”

The taxi jerked as Bordox rammed them again. Davi leapt over the safety bar and pulled the manual override lever, pushing the cab-bot to one side and placing himself at the controls.

“Do you know how to drive this?” Vivi said, her face pale. Neither of her friends looked much better, tensed, and holding onto hand rests like their lives depended on it.

“Davi’s the top pilot in our class,” Farien said and smiled.

“Let’s see how I do on the ground.” Davi began pushing buttons, bringing the air taxi to a much faster speed.

Bordox launched another run at them, but Davi braked, and then slid in behind him, taking an onramp back up onto the air highway overhead. As he turned onto the onramp, Bordox’s frustrated face appeared in the rearview mirror. His bulky body looked ridiculous behind the wheel of the air taxi. His dark beard couldn’t hide his aggravation as he struggled to turn the air taxi around.

As they merged into traffic, Davi couldn’t see Bordox behind them.

“Maybe we lost him,” Bela said, hopefully.

“I doubt it,” Yao said as he and Davi exchanged looks.

In a moment, Davi saw another taxi racing up from behind. “Here he comes.”

Davi weaved their taxi in and out of traffic, trying to keep Bordox at a distance, but the other air taxi continued to close on them.

“What’s his problem anyway? Why won’t he leave us alone?” Vivi said, her voice shaking.

“It’s a long story,” Davi replied, braking and bringing their taxi in behind the other. “Who’d have thought he’d fall for that twice?”

Yao and Farien laughed as Bordox hit the brakes, forcing Davi to dodge and bringing them side by side.

Bordox looked over—his face a mask of bitter resentment. His friends stared at them with sneers of contempt. Bordox and Davi wove their air taxis through traffic, each trying to keep the other at bay.

“We’ve gotta get away from this traffic before someone gets hurt—” Davi was silenced by a jolt as Bordox slid his air taxi in behind theirs and slammed into them again. The windows around them cracked loudly as veins creeped out in all directions covering the panes.

“Better get us down to the lower airways,” Yao suggested, “before the windows disintegrate.”

Davi nodded and dove onto the nearest off ramp. Bordox followed. Now, buildings surrounded them, but the traffic had thinned. A group of barges plodded along ahead of them. He aimed the air taxi straight at the rear of one of them and accelerated.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Yao inquired as he leaned over the safety bar close to Davi’s ear.

“Just secure everybody back there, okay? I have an idea.” Davi said.

“May the gods help us,” Yao answered, shaking his head. “You ladies might want to get into those safety harnesses now,” he said, motioning to the girls, as he and Farien began strapping themselves in. As the girls grabbed for their harnesses, and Yao and Farien turned to help secure and adjust them, Bordox rammed them again from behind.

The windows in both vehicles shattered, glass exploding around them with a deafening crash. The girls screamed. The wind blew against their faces, strengthened by their airspeed and pressing them back against the seats.

“Hold on,” Davi shouted. Slowing a bit as they approached the rear barge, he suddenly accelerated and pulled the air taxi up over the top of the barge. His lips pursed with concentration, his movements were in perfect synch with the machine, just as if he were in his fighter’s familiar cockpit.

Alarms blared from the speakers overhead. “Warning. Violation!” a computer voice screamed.

“Is this even safe?” Jaqi screeched.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Farien assured her. Both he and Yao showed no signs of fear or tension.

Bordox’s air taxi cut across the incoming traffic lanes, zipping around the barge as Davi slipped between the two barges. In seconds, Bordox had squeezed in behind them again.

“I thought Bordox sucked at flying?”

“I guess he’s been practicing,” Farien said with a shrug.

Davi saw the first barge enter an intersection as Bordox accelerated toward them, and smiled. He had a plan. When the air taxi’s front passed the corner, Davi made a sharp turn, whipping everyone to one side and landed safely on a corridor to the side as the girls cried out in surprised protest.

Bordox’s air taxi accelerated straight into the back of the second barge. Bordox and his friends looked shaken and confused, covered with blue Daken feathers from the barge’s shipment of the frightened, squawking birds.

Davi and his friends exchanged high fives, laughing. “That ought to hold him for a while.”

They watched as Bordox struggled to stand despite the slippery feathers all around him. His eyes met Davi’s, his hateful stare barely visible amidst the feathers dangling from the sweat on his face.

“He doesn’t look much different than he did before,” Farien joked.

Yao and Davi laughed.

“Can we please get out now?” Vivi asked, trembling.

“Just a few more minutes. We know a great place on the north shore you ladies will love,” Davi said casually, inwardly relieved as he accelerated again and turned onto another corridor.

O O O

The High Lord Councilor’s Palace stood atop a rise at the center of Legon. An imposing landmark composed of white buildings of various shapes and sizes; it offered an unobstructed view of the entire city. When Davi arrived, he headed straight for his suite.

“Your uncle is not very happy with you for skipping your celebratory dinner.” His mother’s voice stopped him outside the lift. He turned as Miri approached him. She wore a beautiful evening gown, with light skin and light blue eyes which radiated warmth. Davi saw the disappointment in her frown.

Raised by his Uncle Xalivar to act like an officer, Davi had been told time and again he’d command great armies. Like all sons of High Lords, he’d followed the prescribed course of schooling and training, excelling in almost all of it. He’d risen to and stayed at the top of his class in every subject and every training regimen, such that any failure in discipline had become unacceptable to his mother and uncle.

“I’m sorry, mother. Yao, Farien, and I wanted to celebrate in our own way.” Davi wondered what it was like to be an ordinary citizen of the Borali Alliance. Did they have more fun than he did? It’s not that Davi didn’t appreciate all the advantages his life had brought him, but always having to meet others’ constant demands wearied him.

“The Vertullian ambassador was anxious to meet you. She might be very helpful to you in your new assignment,” Miri responded, her voice softening from its previous scolding tone. He knew she adored him too much to stay mad at him for long, and the adoration was mutual.

“Is she staying at the palace? Perhaps I could meet her over breakfast,” Davi said, as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“If you survive your uncle’s wrath,” she said, smiling.

Davi shot her a sheepish grin. “Maybe that can wait until morning, too.”

“I hardly think so,” said Xalivar’s top aide, Manaen, from behind them. “Your uncle is requesting your presence in the throne room.”

Davi and Miri turned to see Manaen standing in a nearby doorway. A member of Idolis’ second most popular race, the Andorians, Manaen was tall and thin with blue skin and red eyes.

“How did he know I’m here?” Davi muttered, but he already knew the answer.

As always though, Manaen faithfully offered an explanation. “Little goes on at the Palace without your uncle’s knowledge.”

Or permission
, Davi thought, but he kept it to himself.

“Of course,” Miri said, motioning to Davi to go with Manaen. Davi turned with a sigh and followed Manaen back through the door. Miri followed close behind.

They stopped in a corridor. Each wall bore the shield of the Borali Alliance in embossed gold; a large door rose before them. They stepped inside the ornate throne room. The bejeweled throne stood centered on a raised dais set a few feet out from the far wall. A series of support pillars lined the sides of the long room with space in between for seating guests. The throne and the floor featured the same seal they’d seen in the corridor outside. As many times as he’d been here, Davi still found it impressive.

The High Lord Councilor waited beside a large window, staring out at the city, dressed in a gold robe with a white collar and cuffs. In the center by his neck lay the jewel known as the Lord’s eye that matched a similar but larger jewel embedded in the center arch at the back of the throne. Shorter than Davi but taller than Miri, he had a dark beard.

Manaen stopped in the doorway, awaiting instructions as Miri and Davi moved into the room, a long, red carpet cushioning their steps. The carpet ran in a rectangular line to each corner then continued around pillars lining each side and ended behind the throne—creating a complete square frame around the room.

Xalivar turned to face them. Instead of angry, he looked tired. He motioned to Manaen. “That will be all, Manaen.”

Manaen offered the expected salute with crossed fingers over a fist, then turned and exited, the door sliding shut behind him.

“The Vertullian ambassador was most disappointed she didn’t get to meet you,” his uncle said immediately.

“So mother explained. I’m sorry uncle. Perhaps over breakfast—”

“I decide the agenda in my palace, Xander. Not your mother, or you,” Xalivar responded. The anger in his tone surprised Davi.

Davi’s given name was Xander Rhii, son of Princess Miri Rhii, sister to Lord Xalivar, the High Lord Councilor of the Borali Alliance, but, for some reason, his mother had always called him Davi. He’d grown quite fond of the nickname himself. All the men in the line had names beginning with X—Xander, Xalivar, Xerses, Xonas—but Davi stood apart, making him unique. Davi had never been one to follow the crowd. In the court of the High Lords, it was hard to be unique.

While Lord Xalivar was a revered figure, both loved and feared by many throughout the Alliance, to Davi he had always been his kind, but sometimes stern uncle. It wasn’t often their conversations reached the present intensity.

“You would do well to show proper respect to those who can help your advancement,” Xalivar continued.

“Why is he being sent to oversee workers anyway?” Miri interjected. “It’s a waste of his skills.” She surprised Davi with the anger on her face. He hadn’t realized she was against his assignment.

“I cannot afford to play favorites. He has to work his way up like everyone else, if we want to take him seriously and accord him the proper respect,” Xalivar replied, softening somewhat.

“He is not like everyone else,” Miri said.

“He is not yet a Lord, sister. Don’t forget it.”

“He will be,” Miri held firm.

Xalivar looked at her as if trying to understand her concern. “You’ve never been to Vertullis. Service there is a respected part of officer training. Most graduates spend some of their career there,” he said. “Why are you so fearful of it?”

Davi chuckled as he watched them. No matter what, they would always be brother and sister. His mother had always been gentle and soft with him, while Xalivar had been tougher and more serious, although he’d never lived up to his reputation among the other cadets as ruthless and cold. At least not with Davi. Many rumors continued to float around about his uncle, but Davi had always found them hard to believe.