Escape from Irece: The Royal Stowaway
01 January 3143It was several hours later when Arjun finally returned to the mech bay. The swelling on his forehead had gone down and he had finally spoken with his sister over tightbeam. It had been good to hear her voice and to have someone to share in his personal grief. As expected, she took the stoic approach, just like their father.
He returned to the mech bay ostensibly to check on the condition of his father’s Peacekeeper mech. However, another issue was tickling the back of his mind, almost forgotten in the recent rush of events. He needed to be sure.
As he looked down on the bay from the gantry, he saw that some minimal form of order had settled over the crowded refugees. Someone had found a variety of tarps and other coverings among the supplies and had fashioned makeshift tents and domiciles to help separate families. He could see that some people had taken leadership positions and were organizing teams to help gather up supplies and help the wounded. He saw others comforting those who had lost or been separated from their families during the chaotic exodus. For all of the tragedy behind it, there was also a resilient spirit about the refugees’ energy that made him smile just a little.
“Do you need me to look at that hand?”
The question was delivered at close range and, surprised, Arjun whirled to see a young, strikingly beautiful, red-haired woman standing on the gantry beside him. Two people stood behind her. She was looking at him quizzically.
“What? My Hand? Uhhh….”
As he turned, her eyes shot up to his forehead where the evidence of his unfortunate run-in with the the ship’s bridge remained. She grimaced a little. “Oooh, looks like some head trauma there.” She called back to her apparent assistants. “We should check him for a possible concussion or contusion.”
“What? Huh? I am not– Wait, who are you?”
She smiled lightly. “Oh sorry, I see now that you are one of the crew. My name is Britta. I appear to be the only doctor among the people brought on board. I have been doing the rounds and addressing people’s injuries as best as I can. But if you prefer the ship’s doctor, I fully understand.”
Arjun seemed to be having trouble pulling his lower jaw up. He should have said that they didn’t have a ship’s doctor, but instead he said “You seem a little young to be a doctor.”
Her smile disappeared and she drew herself up straighter. “Well, sir. Your injuries do not appear to be life threatening so I think we can forego treatment at the moment, but please seek me out if you notice any further problems or symptoms.”
With that, she and her two assistants walked briskly past Arjun, leaving him alone again on the gantry. Rubbing his hand and still trying to make sense of the interaction, he descended the steps and went about his business.
A half hour of questioning led him to a small tent that had been pitched in an out of the way corner of the mech bay. The tent itself was made up of the anti-flammable material that the techs used to deal with job site accidents. It looked like it had come straight out of its factory packaging and was off-gassing a slightly chemical smell. As he approached, he detected movement within the tent.
He stopped. “I am not here for trouble. I know who you have in there and I know why you would rather keep it a secret. I would like to help you with that if I can.”
There was a momentary pause and then a rustling as a small boy about three years old burst out, smiling. Arjun heard a man in the tent give a curse.
“Arjun!!”
The boy ran to Arjun who gathered him up in his arms. Arjun found it impossible not to smile at the boy’s irrepressible spirit. He could only imagine what Dai had been through.
“I am so happy to see you here, Dai.” Arjun said as he put the boy down. “Is your mother with you?”
Dai’s smile disappeared and he looked down. “No, she said we wouldn’t see each other for a long time. She said I had to go with Mr. Kovacs.”
Dai looked over to where an older man was extricating himself from the tent. He had a weathered face and the bearing of a former soldier. He seemed to hold himself tense in anticipation of potential violence. He looked vaguely familiar. Arjun also noticed that his left hand was discreetly tucked behind his back. Arjun became suddenly aware of how few people there were in this corner of the bay.
“Kovacs?” Arjun puzzled. “Lt. Kovacs? I think I remember you from one of our visits to the royal estate. Aren’t you one of Emi Kurita’s personal bodyguards?”
The man nodded slightly but said nothing. Arjun sensed they were at a dangerous moment.
“Dai, Mr. Kovacs and I need to talk for a moment.” Arjun pulled out the paper and pencil he had retrieved from his quarters. “Why don’t you take these and go over there and draw me the biggest, baddest mech you can imagine?”
Dai grabbed the pencil and paper enthusiastically and vanished back into the tent. Arjun turned to Lt. Kovacs.
“There is no need for whatever you have behind your back there. You and I are on the same team. I would never let anyone harm Daitsuke,” Arjun said.
Kovacs nodded, “I know you are familiar with the Coordinator, but you must understand that I have my orders. Anything that threatens his life is to be eliminated.” Kovacs shifted slightly on the balls of his feet.
Arjun held out the keycard to his quarters. “If you stay out here in the hangar, Dai will be recognized sooner or later. Take my key. It will give you access to the lifts and my quarters on the seventh level. Its not perfect, but you will remain far more unnoticed there than here.”
Kovacs looked at the card but made no effort to take it. “The boy is a complication for you. If Yori’s goons find out he still lives, they will come after you. Why would you help us?”
Arjun lowered his voice, “What has become of his mother?”
“Dead by her own hand as is the body double put in place for Dai.” Kovacs responded.
“Then, Dai and I share something. We have both lost a parent today. I know that to you, he is the true Coordinator of the Draconis Combine and the hope for the future of your realm.” Arjun’s voice cracked a little. “ To me, he is just a boy who has suffered too much. I won’t ever willingly add to that suffering.”
Kovacs looked at Arjun as if he wanted to look through him. After a moment of tense anticipation, he reached out and took the keycard. His other hand came out from behind his back and stowed the sai blade it held.
Looking at the dangerous blade, Arjun said “One more thing, Kovacs. If you take this offer - no violence against my people. That is the only thing that will lose you my protection.”
After discreetly escorting Dai and Kovacs to his room, Arjun returned to their tent to settle in. the tent was small and the chemical smell was even worse on the inside. Nonetheless, Arjun found it comforting. The tight quarters helped him block out all of the horrible things that his mind kept trying to resurface. He settled down with some extra bedding from his room as well as a cup of ramen he had grabbed from the ship’s commissary.
He was halfway through his ramen when the tent flap burst open. Crawling into the small space was the girl who had accosted him about his hand earlier. No, not a girl, he reminded himself. She was a doctor. And her name was Britta. She had said her name was Britta. She looked at him with an intense expression that he had difficulty deciphering. Maybe she was still mad at him? Caught in mid-slurp, he choked on his noodles and had a brief coughing spasm.
“I am not a doctor,” she said. “You were right, I am not a doctor. I am a medical student at New Barcella University. I am in my third year.”
She was crying now. “When news of the atrocities got out, people panicked. I ran too. I tried to find my family at the spaceport, but I couldn’t. I don’t know why I got on this ship and no real doctors did. But people were hurting. They weren’t strapped in. There were so many injuries. Somebody needed to…”
She trailed off in sobs at this point. Arjun sat there for a moment, still holding his ramen cup in one hand and his chopsticks in the other, completely unsure of what to do.
“Uhh, Uhm. Look, I, uhh, think what you are doing is, uhh, great. It takes real courage to stand up and be a leader in, uhh, times like these.”
She didn’t seem like she even heard him. Tentatively, he leaned forward to touch her gently on the shoulder. The instant his hand touched her shoulder, she was moving toward him. Their lips were touching. She was kissing him. Wait, what? Now he was kissing her. It was all happening so fast. They were locked together, stripping off clothes. It didn’t make sense, they were strangers to each other. But as they touched, he realized just how badly he needed another human’s touch at this moment. Arjun hesitated, then let go, losing himself, if for a moment, in the embrace of another.