Chapter 25 - Crownless Prince

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When the CSS Eon finally arrived at the edge of the Sol system, its crew was frantically at work to get her ready for the space gate. Cat gathered that traveling this way was hard on spaceships. She would have liked to see it but everything was buttoned up beforehand and that included the portholes. Apart from the occasional tremors, she felt through the ship's frame, everything went smoothly.

They arrived on Trantor without incident. The crew's antagonistic behavior toned down after a few days, but they made sure that Cat never felt comfortable on their ship.

On arrival day, she was sitting at a view port to get a first glimpse of Trantor. She'd never seen Trantor before. She had dreamt of living there ever since the Mudcrawlers had discovered it. Open skies, water falling from the sky. Green everywhere. It was so different from New Mars. It was an Earth-like planet with no animal life. Only primitive vegetation. The colonists have brought their seeds and animals from Earth to make it the Trantor of today. A wild, lively and prosperous world. Abuzz with new colonists, it was also a society with its law enforcement dangerously understaffed. From space, Trantor looked like a marble mixing white, blue and green in its colors. It was a beautiful sight. Gravity was a bit higher. About 0.4% more. The weather was prone to sudden changes and was known to go to extremes very rapidly. Cat could see a storm brewing from her vantage point.

She felt someone shoving her from behind. She looked up to see a few sailors standing behind her, glaring.

"It's her. I knew it. I couldn't believe the Skipper let her walk around our ship freely after killing Johnson and Takahashi. But there she is, bold as brass." One of them said, very displeased.

"Koppel, right?" Cat said, recognizing his voice.

Surprised at being recognized by Cat, he stuttered. "That's me. You should be on trial for what you did to them."

"Oh? Would you add that to my triple life sentence? Or did you have something else in mind? Maybe spacing me out of the nearest airlock?" Cat hissed between her teeth.

The three sailors, two boys and a girl, looked at each other with indecision.

"Takahashi was my boyfriend you bitch." The girl said.

"Really? Let me enlighten you on your boyfriend's actions before his death. Shall I? After dragging my injured body all over the ship and putting my face plate against the face of my dead friend who died from exposure to the vacuum after an explosive decompression. He then proceeded to interrogate me, saying he would kill me rapidly if I cooperated. Did you ever see what people look like when they suffer from decompression? It's far from pretty. Isis was 17 and she was my friend. I was shell-shocked and traumatized by seeing my friend dead at such a young age in this horrible way. I panicked and afraid for my life, I did what I was trained to do in a situation like that. I killed the threat." Cat looked each of them in the eye. "If he hadn't acted like a thug, your boyfriend and his friend would still be alive right now. I made a promise not to kill anybody else and I had to break that promise because of those men." They lowered their eyes. "Now, if you don't mind. I'd like to be by myself." Cat finished.

"But..." The girl started.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. It was pure reflex. If it's any consolation, he'll haunt me like the others I killed. They all do." Cat looked at Koppel. "Hey you, why didn't you shoot me when you had a chance?"

"I... I never killed anyone." He mumbled.

"It's harder than you thought huh? Want some advice? Leave the military before you do get to kill somebody. It blackens the soul. It's the worst sin you can ever commit. It will follow you for the rest of your life and destroy you at the end." Cat turned back her attention to the window. "Now leave me before I add you to my victim collection."

They left her hurriedly. Someone behind her cleared his throat.

"Leave me before I add you to my victim collection? A bit melodramatic isn't it?"

She turned around once again to find Tom watching her.

"Fuck off uncrowned prince."

"Touché." He laughed. "Can I sit?"

"What part of 'fuck off' don't you get?" Cat said, hostile.

Ignoring her, he sat down next to her. "You handled that well. I thought I might have to intervene again."

She reluctantly shifted her gaze from the window to Tom's face. "What did you expect? They're just kids. Last time, I was hurt and threatened. I..." She turned her face away from his. "Oh, why don't you just leave me alone? If I don't see another human face ever again, I wouldn't miss it."

"Why don't you just go with the flow, whatever is eating you can't last. Remorse is one thing, but manic self-punishment is crazy. My grandmother used to blame herself for everything that went wrong with the colonies. She even felt responsible for your situation. That's why she put you in one of her private labs."

"But she was innocent of the crimes they accused her of. I'm not. Even if they declare me insane and not responsible for my actions, it wouldn't matter. You've seen what I'm still capable of. The killer is still inside of me. Waiting for a stressful moment to show its ugly head. Unlike Jab, I deserve this." Cat said.

"Maybe, but the question remains." Tom said.

"What question?"

"What are you going to do about it? You're gonna bitch and moan or you're actually gonna do something about it?"

"Oh, I see. You want me to help Jab don't you? Alright, you win crownless prince, I'll listen to what she has to say."

"And train with the Ronins?" Tom added.

"And train with the Ronins." She repeated half-heartedly.

"Good."

"You know, I'm starting to understand why you're so popular. It's not because you're royalty. It's because you're like your grandfather Zachariah. You're just good with people." Cat said to Tom.

"Thanks. I guess."

"Tom?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you stop Koppel from shooting me?"

"I saw how strong you were. It had to be you Catherine. I know of no other augmented under the age of 60. My grandmother sent me to find you and after your spell with the Ronins; bring you to her for debriefing on what she wants from you. Preferably in one piece. That means I have to protect you."

"Well, whatever the reason you did it, thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. When you start training with the Ronins, you might end up wishing Koppel had shot you that day."

"That bad huh?" Cat said.

"Well, apart from getting you and the gang into shape. The Ronins will bring you lot up to speed on current affairs. Where we're at in this conflict."

"And the other two? What is their part in all this?" Cat asked Tom

"Alejandro and Jimmy? Alejandro will get you out of any sticky situation. He has a knack for finding a way out in any situation. Doesn't matter where you are. Doesn't matter if you don't know anyone. He'll find a way to take advantage of someone or cheat, steal or betray his way out of anything."

"That's not a very shining recommendation. Is he to be trusted?"

"Trusted? Have you met the man? No, of course not. He's not to be trusted under any circumstances. The trick is to keep him dependent on something you have. Something he needs. Then, he's as good as he'll ever get. Jimmy, on the other hand is trustworthy. She's also the best bush pilot you'll ever see. Space and Atmos. There's no one better. Don't let her young age fool you. She's a natural. She won the Sky Dragon contest three years in a row, beating the reigning champion, Gaspar Holmek. Holmek is an Air Force instructor who used to butt heads with her at the Academy."

"The Sky Dragon contest?"

"It's a grueling 2 hours race in both atmos and space. The course goes through canyons on the surface and the ice belt in orbit around Aurora. Would you like to see one?" Tom offered.

"We have time?"

"With the customs officials here? Oh yeah, we have all the time in the world." Tom said laughing, he guided her to a large room whose purpose seemed to be recreational. People were teamed up playing complicated holographic games. Some of the players were holographic too. Cat had seen rooms like this before, but never as elaborate as this one was.

Tom took her hand, Cat surprised, let herself be guided to a small cubicle. It was totally dark inside. Then a soft light came on slowly.

"Do you have the Sky Dragon race from three years ago?" Tom asked the room.

"Yes, it is in Trantor's database." The room answered back in a soft voice.

"Play it please."

"Which broadcast?"

"The MAN Auroran broadcast with Phil Anderson."

"The MAN Auroran broadcast?" Cat asked Tom curious.

"Murakami Associated Networks."

"Damn. Is there something she hasn't her little fingers dipped in?" Cat said laughing.

"Not much I'm afraid." He then said to the A.I. "Play the file please."

"Playing."

The room faded away and they found themselves in the press box next to Phil Anderson who was describing the pre-race preparations. Cat, disoriented, tried to grab the railing in front of her. Her hand went through the seemingly solid object.

"Wow." She said as she observed the crowd.

"I know right? This is my favorite race of all time. It's Jimmy's first race. She's flying a skiff that my grandfather helped her build."

"Zack? How..."

"He imprinted his brain patterns in a simple A.I. for my grandmother before his condition got worse. He was supposed to give it to her in the event of his death but he changed his mind and left it to Jimmy instead. It helped her with the technical side of it. He also left her some money so she would be set for life. He liked Jimmy's spirit. He wanted her to achieve her full potential and he gave her the tools for it. She sure used them fully. Nowadays, she's as handy around a ship as he was."

"Jab must have been furious." Cat said.

"My grandmother went bugshit mad when she learned it."

"I can guess. Jimmy was fourteen wasn't she?"

"Yeah, she always butted head with the reigning champion who happened to be her instructor at the Academy. After this particular race, their relationship soured big time." Tom said laughing.

"Fourteen. No wonder Jab was mad at Zack for putting Thonarr's grandchild at risk."

Phil Anderson prepared himself and looked at his notes. He then pressed the transmit button. "Welcome Aurorans to this 22nd annual Sky Dragon race!" The crowd went wild.

Tom explained. "As you can see, this race is very popular. They call it a race, but I call it a blood sport. People come here for the accidents. A lot of casualties over the years. It's getting better now but there is still a few accidents every year. Some fatal."

The announcer continued, he introduced the pilots. He lingered a little on last year's champion and then he switched to Jimmy. "This year, we have a little surprise in the lineup. A fourteen-year-old Air Force cadet fresh from the Academy. Racing toe-to-toe with her instructor who happens to be the champion. I call that guts ladies and gents. She should be brave, she's the granddaughter of none other than our own General Thonarr." Again the crowd cheered. The skiffs were lined up with their pilots next to them. The atmosphere was electric as the anticipation was built up expertly by the announcer next to Cat and Tom.

"This year's race promises to be an exciting event! The weather is clear and you know what that means ladies and gents, Sky-Dragons! They should be present in great numbers this year. When they see activity, they can't resist a little look-see. The pilots will have to watch out for them in the atmospheric part of the course. As you can see, this year's batch of skiffs are all new models. I want to attract your attention to our new participant's machine. I heard from a little birdie that the designer of this beauty is none other than her pilot. Yes, you heard right. Jimmy Dean, designed that ship. She must be something else. Yes folks, make no mistake, this year's event will be EPIC!" He expertly yelled the last word and the crowd went berserk. All stood up and cheered the contestants who were entering their respective machines.

"Where is she?" Cat asked Tom. He pointed to a tall thin girl seating herself in the most beautiful small ship Cat had ever seen. It was profiled like a shark and looked fast. Jimmy's skiff looked like a thoroughbred in the middle of a bunch of nags. The other racers knew it too, by the looks they were giving it.

"This skiff was built just for her. She designed it around herself and her style of flying. She used the latest plasma ring technologies and used a custom software suite designed by my granddad for controlling the flight." Tom said proudly.

A tall lady dressed in a dark classic dress stood up on the main balcony. Cat recognized the Queen and her wife also present. June Avery looking very solemn. She was probably worried sick for Althea's grandchild. The lady started to sing Aurora's national anthem. Her voice gave the song a mesmerizing quality that made the crowd suddenly silent. Cat listened to the beautiful song, praying for Jimmy to win. Even though she already knew the results, she was totally absorbed by the illusion.

A loud air horn blared its brutal call making Cat jump, it resounded loudly in the departure area and seemed to come from everywhere.

"God, that was loud." Cat complained.

"Look." Tom said, pointing to the skiffs starting their engines. They lifted off the ground and floated a few inches above it. Their landing gear retracted and the countdown started showed in big luminous holographic numbers displayed over the crowd. A holographic course appeared and the numbers suddenly reached zero in their appointed time. The little racing skiffs blasted off in mind boggling acceleration, surprising Cat.

"Good God, I hope they have some kind of inertial dampers." She said.

"Some do, but remember, it adds weight. Jimmy chose not to have them."

"That launch must have been at least seven gees!"

"Eight. Jimmy later told me that she almost passed out." Tom corrected her.

"Crazy kid." Cat said, already absorbed in the race which was displayed in the arena's huge main holographic display. "C'mon Jimmy! Pass him!" She yelled at no one in particular.

Tom smiled.

Jimmy's skiff was going way too fast between the small canyon's walls. She was in the back of the field after a slow start because of her skiff's lack of inertial dampening. She was making her way up the ranks, blazing her way around them as if they were standing still. Her skiff handled beautifully and had incredible stability. At the front, her instructor was leading with a comfortable gap between him and the rest of the racers. He flew with a practiced hand that came from his vast past experience. Jimmy's flying was nervous and almost intuitive by comparison.

As predicted, the Sky-Dragons made an appearance in the second part of the atmospheric race. One racer collided with one of the pesky creatures, sending him in a spiraling fall towards the fast approaching desert ground. He ejected a few seconds before his skiff crashed in a ball of fiery flames. The platoon slowed down to allow some room for reaction time. The Sky-Dragons were unpredictable obstacles and they wanted to give themselves a safety margin. Jimmy recklessly forged on and actually accelerated, surprising her fellow racers. She was now in the group leading the race, closing the gap between her and the leaders. She almost collided with a Sky-Dragon, but went in a negative gee dive at the last minute and circled around the bewildered beast as if it was another contestant. The going was tough but she seemed equal to it.

Cat kept yelling cheers when Jimmy passed the other racers and obscenities when foul play was involved. Tom smiled, seeing a part of the girl everyone had described as a monster. He decided he liked that part.

Now, the skiffs pointed their collective noses up towards the space part of the race. They reached Aurora's rings in ten minutes of white knuckle flying straight up out of the atmosphere and into the vacuum of space. The rarefied air nullified the aerodynamic drag and rendered the wings ineffective and useless. They could only count on their plasma ring's reactions to guide and steer their ships. Jimmy seemed particularly adept and at ease in that environment. Zero gee seemed to agree with her. Her flying in the canyons had been impressive but now, she was in a class all by herself. She closed the gap between herself and the second place runner and passed him with a feint that surprised the other pilot who blocked her in the wrong place. Jimmy made it look easy, but Cat who had practiced space maneuvering at the Academy knew it wasn't.

Coming back down in the atmosphere, their noses glowing, Jimmy went after the lead skiff piloted by her Air Force Academy instructor, Gaspar Holmek. Cat thought she could see the diminutive vessels shaking with the sheer violence of atmospheric buffeting from re-entry. They heard a few sonic booms as the racers re-entered the Auroran atmosphere in inadvisable speeds.

The lead skiff blocked Jimmy's path as she was maneuvering to pass him. She avoided colliding with him by aero-braking at the last moment losing precious speed.

Cat screamed her outrage. "You bloodsucking mudcrawler! Get out of the freaking way you blithering fool!"

Tom laughed. "You're really into this aren't you?"

"Sorry." Cat said sheepishly. Then she screamed anew. "Mud monkey! You couldn't find your ass even if a comet struck it! Move! That Neanderthal is willing to endanger one of his cadets because he doesn't want to lose to her! What an Earth worm!"

"Hey! Even though I was born on Aurora, I feel a little insulted here." Tom said laughingly.

"Sorry." Cat repeated and continued swearing her head off.

The two leading skiffs were almost touching their wings together flying at close quarters recklessly. Their noses were blackened and their heated frames were leaving a slight trail of smoke behind them. Jimmy started to spiral around the leader in an attempt to disorient him and proceeded to close the radius of the circles slowly until their canopies were almost touching. The lead ship maneuvered his rings close to Jimmy's ship. The gravitational interference destabilized both ships and they both lost control, sending them in a dizzying spiral. Cat screamed her indignation again. Jimmy was the first to regain control and she used the time to gain a lead on Holmek's ship. Frustrated at losing his gamble, Holmek went all out and tried to clip Jimmy's wings. He missed and hit the starboard ring instead. Unlike the wings, the ring nacelles were sturdily built and Holmek broke his own wing in the attempt.

His skiff went into a nauseating corkscrew, diving towards the ground in an uncontrolled fashion. He had lost control of his temper, lost control of his ship and lost the race. He ejected before losing consciousness to the mounting Gees and continued his lonely descent in shameful slowness.

Jimmy's skiff stabilized itself as best as it could and flew down to a merited victory. Her skiff landed in the winner's circle, slowly, light as a feather. Jimmy was the youngest winner in Sky-Dragon race history.

Cat was ecstatic with joy, she yelled her head off in happy shouts to the winner. Tom let her watch the after race ceremony and the interview. Jimmy looked so young. She was dirty and sweaty, still

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