Twin Stars 1: Ascension (22 page)

Solantro himself was a security guard at one of the tourist-oriented museums that dotted the Imperial Capitol, a job he’d acquired shortly after he’d come to New Wellington. Grace was an executive assistant at Kellin Bank, working under one of their top managers, and was the one whose job supported the family.

As it turned out, she was also an excellent cook.

“Grace, don’t forget it’s our turn to send lunch for Luis’s teacher tomorrow.” Solantro reminded his wife as the family ate dinner that night.

Grace, who was putting out some pasta on the young Luis’s plate, tipped the pot to show how much was left. “Don’t worry, I made some extra tortellini tonight just for her.”

“Luis’s teacher keeps commenting on Grace’s pasta,” Solantro commented to Ping An proudly. “He’s always asking Luis when she’ll send more.”

Ping An smiled at that and nodded, but then she frowned as a thought occurred to her. “You’re sending lunch for his teacher- why?”

“Oh…Ahh…well…” Solantro suddenly stammered, unsure what to say. A rare thing for him.

“It’s a bribe,” Grace said as she sat down at her place and began spooning salad onto her plate. “The teachers make the parents give them favors or money or they won’t pass the students.”

“Grace!” Solantro hissed.

But his wife ignored him. “Why not?” She answered. “It’s true, isn’t it?” Then she looked at Ping An. “The teachers hold the fates of the students in their hands, so they squeeze as much money from the families as they can.”

“What?!?” Ping An looked between them, shocked. “How can they get away with something like that?”

Solantro gave a shrug of resignation. “It’s the way it is here. Everyone just worries about themselves- how to make themselves rich.”

“Before it was bad,” Grace added. “But recently, it’s become especially hard. Since the death of the Emperor, everything is crazy. Nobody believes in anything right now- not even money. Everyone’s spending their money as soon as they get it and hoarding things for tomorrow. The boxes in our spare room? That’s food and water. Everyone has emergency stores like that now.”

“I saw them,” Ping An said sadly. “That’s smart though, isn’t it? You never know about tomorrow. But, you’ll get through somehow. Everyone’s in the same boat, right?”

“Not everyone- the Nobles are fine!” Solantro spat, clearly feeling an old anger. “If anything happens they’ll just leave and go someplace else. They don’t care what happens to the rest of us.”

But, if he’d been expecting sympathy or the usual round of gripes about the Nobility he didn’t get it. Instead, Ping An looked him in the eye and said coldly- “It’s your own fault.”

“What?” Solantro’s face showing hurt and surprise. “How can you say that?”

“They rule because you let them.” Ping An explained to her friend. “You didn’t want the job, they did, and now look where it’s gotten you.”

“But…What could we do?” Solantro protested. “They’re so powerful, what are we to do? Rebel against them?”

“No,” the pirate answered. “You could have just asked. That’s all you needed to do- ask for power. They’re what, two percent of the population? How could they say no if the rest of you demanded change? But, you didn’t, did you? You just let them keep on doing what they wanted until they’d taken things too far. You rolled over and let them have their way. Now where are you?”

Solantro’s face had turned beet red. “What would you know about fighting, Ping? You ran away!” He said. “We needed you, and you ran off to wherever instead of staying at Tester and fighting. Where were your words then? Where were your ideals when we were dying?”

“What was I supposed to do?” Ping At shot back. “I was a wanted criminal by the Tester government. Was I supposed to stay and rot in jail for serving my people? What good would that have done them?”

“You would have been freed; the amnesty was put out as soon as the Imperials left.”

“How was I supposed to know that would happen?” Ping An answered, trying her best to keep this from getting any worse. “Did you know? Is that why you stayed?”

But then, her old friend looked her right in the eye.

“I stayed because my family meant something to me.”

“Solantro!” Grace yelled at him, but it was already too late.

“Well, my family was dead. So, I guess it wasn’t a problem I had, was it?” Ping An told him flatly, staring at him until he turned away. Then she stood up and tossed her napkin on the table. “Thanks for the meal, I’ll get my things and find a hotel.”

“Ping An! Wait!” Grace rushed after her.

But the pirate turned and gestured for her to stay where she was. “It’s okay, Grace. I’ll be in touch when things cool down.”

* * *

Ping An was so lost in thought she was halfway down the front marble steps of Solantro’s building before she became aware of the security men around her.

There were six of them, six large men all dressed in dark suits and wearing the currently popular mirrored bubbles over their eyes. Two had positioned themselves down the sidewalk to her left, and a similar pair half a building over to her right. In front of her, two more stood in front of a large black grav-sedan that was parked in front of the building. Far too rich a vehicle for this neighborhood.

Cursing herself for letting this happen, Ping An froze and quickly went through her options. The narrow urban street was nearly empty this late in the evening, with the exception of a couple of people walking on the other side. The buildings all around here were likewise too high for her to jump or climb without getting shot or cut down. She could always dash back into Solantro’s building and out another way, but that was likely already taken into consideration.

In the end, Ping An decided her best bet was to simply see what they wanted, and began to casually walk down the rest of the steps to where the men waited. There was always a chance, after all, that they weren’t here for her but related to someone else. This was the Imperial Capital after all.

As she reached the bottom step there was a click from the sedan, and the front passenger door popped out slightly and then slid back to reveal an old, hawk faced man sitting behind the driver’s seat.

“Excuse me, Miss Zhang?” He called out to her.

Ping An walked over to the car and leaned down to look inside, the two security men flanking her to either side.

“Hello there, Foster.” She said as casually as she could. “Brought friends I see.”

“Yes,” said the gentleman politely. “I have been sent to get you.”

Ping An glanced at the two escorts. “Don’t you mean to bring me in?”

“No,” he shook his head firmly. “Lady Whitcombe’s instructions were quite clear. You are to return with us, but you are not our prisoner, only our guest.”

“And,” said Ping An, testing the waters. “If I don’t want to come?”

“Then we will let you pass.” He answered, putting the emphasis on “will”.

Ping An considered a moment, it wasn’t like she had anything better to do, and if they wanted her gone there were easier ways.

She tapped the top of the car twice and then swung down and into the luxuriously soft passenger seat.

“Alright Foster,” Ping An told the old man. “Let’s see what your lady wants.”

* * *

Ping An had made a mistake, a horrible horrible mistake.

Or at least that’s how she felt as the doors opened and she stepped out into the ballroom. Brightly lit, and bigger than some ships she had served on, the ballroom of the cloud liner was alive with music, laughter, drinking and dance. Most of the attendees seemed to be young, in appearance if not actual age, and all of them bore the long face, high forehead and too-good-to-be-true features that Ping An associated with the Nobility.

Foster stepped past her and indicated for her to follow, and the pair began threading their way through the tables. Foster had taken her to Lady Whitcombe’s personal cloud yacht, and aboard it they had set sail to meet a cloud liner cruising to the North of the city where a large grand ball was taking place. They had even prepared a dress for Ping An to wear, although their idea of an ideal dress and Ping An’s differed somewhat.

“I look like something you eat at one of those afternoon tea places.” Ping An said unhappily as they walked.

“Given the looks you’re getting from some of the gentlemen,” Foster commented dryly. “I believe they might agree with at least part of that statement.”

“And, why is my top cut so low?” She said, looking down at what seemed to be almost all of her chest on display. The dress in question was soft pink, with a low cut bodice and a frilly knee length skirt. It was the kind of dress that five year old girls dreamed of wearing one day, and their older selves looked back on with embarrassment.

“It’s…the fashion…this year.” Foster answered, and gestured out at the assembled ladies, many of whom wore similarly revealing outfits.

“Ah,” said Ping An, feeling only a little less embarrassed. “I thought I’d forgotten to put something on.”

Foster led her unerringly across the room and around a corner, where they found the Lady alone in a secluded booth. The old woman was dressed in an impressive off-white gown the color of snow with a baby blue shawl draped over her shoulders. She was gesturing into the air before her, obviously still working on something at this late hour. Ping An was impressed, this woman left little to others that she could do herself.

“Foster, you’re late.” She said, and made a canceling motion before resting her hands down in front of her and looking up at the servant disapprovingly.

“Sorry, madam.” Foster bowed. “It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t,” the woman made a dismissive gesture. “You may go. Ping An- sit.” She indicated to the padded white seat next to her.

As she sat, Ping An glanced after the retreating servant. “Don’t blame Foster,” she said. “It was me taking my time that made us late.”

“I know,” replied the Lady, unconcerned. “Foster and I have been at this for longer than you’ve been alive, child. He’s closer to me than most of my husbands were.” Then she indicated the wine glass in front the pirate. “The wine in front of you is yours- one drop of it is worth more than this liner, so enjoy it while you can.”

Curious, Ping An raised the glass up, turning it to look at the soft golden liquid inside. “How can a drop of wine be worth so much?”

“Why, because it’s worth what people need it to be worth, my dear.” Said the Lady, watching her. “No matter how rich you get, there’s always someone willing to offer you things to spend your money on that no-one else can have.”

Ping An nodded, “Then I’ll pass.” She set the glass down in the middle of the table, away from her. “I’d rather not taste something that I can never have again.”

“Very practical,” the Lady agreed. “However, I thought you were the one who planned to become richer and more powerful than myself? If you did, that glass would mean as little to you as it does to most of the people here.”

“And my plan hasn’t changed,” Ping An told her. “But I’m not going to get used to luxuries before I can afford them with my own pocket money.” Then, disliking this line of questioning, she decided to get right to the point. “Why did you invite me here?”

The Lady made a sweeping gesture with her hand. “You wanted to enter society, here it is.” Then she looked at the pirate, her eyes twinkling. “What do you think of it?”

Ping An snorted dismissively, leaning back into her chair with her arms crossed. “This isn’t society. This is people with more money than brains playing their games while their world burns down around them.”

“Perhaps,” the Lady allowed. “However, this is where we are now- in a room filled with the most elite and the most eligible young people in the Empire. Even the most feeble looking youth out there is worth more than a world’s GDP in a year.”

Ping An didn’t even look at them, she just shook her head. “If you want to me to have even less respect for them than you did before, you’re doing a great job.”

“Not at all.” The Lady continued. “I invited you here because I know you don’t understand them. To you they’re an object of derision, but you don’t really know who they are or what they’re like. If you’re going to carry out your little campaign, where do you think it will end?

“Wars don’t last forever, there’s a point where every conflict must turn into a battle of politics and resources. Those require allies with both.”

Ping An shifted, not sure where this was going and suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. “I’m a pirate, do you really expect me to be so civilized?” She answered, saying the first thing that came to her.

“Pah!” The Lady dismissed that idea with a wave of her hand. “You’re no more a pirate than they are. In fact, you and they have more than a little in common, don’t you?”

Now Ping An really didn’t like where this was going. She fixed Lady Whitcombe with a hard stare that had made most people melt away in fear, “Get to the point.”

The Lady leaned back, ignoring the pirate’s attempt at intimidation, and gestured toward the drink Ping An has refused. “You, young lady. Are going to drink that glass of very expensive wine in front of you,” she said in a tone that offered no response. “And then, you will go out and play my niece for the evening. You are going to have fun, and forget yourself for a time. Let the men chase you, and let the women admire you- or the opposite if you prefer. Be a lady for once.”