Tokumei No Sakusha The Defector

[The Defector]

Tokumei No Sakusha

They say monarchy will never work on a civilized world, yet it does on Ra. That is because we are not civilized. I am Jyk Bek, first princess of the Aro’Ra High Castle. This desolate, arid, tidally locked planet’s government is oppressive and degrading to our people, and I wish not to have any part of it. But I am Jyk Bek, first princess of the Aro’Ra High Castle, and I must be the oppressor, it is in my blood. It is my job to ‘hear the voices of the people’ but the people do not speak for if they do, they must -by law- only speak the truth. And the truth is this system is a terrible insidious trap that no one has escaped for a millenia. I am Jyk Bek, first princess of the Aro’Ra High Castle. I hate my name. The royal family name of ‘Bek’ is Old World for ‘superior’ and ‘Jyk’ translates to ‘destiny’. Destined to be superior, a stupid name. I must escape. I must escape this evil planet. A war is in the making, a war between Ra and Terra, and my father is stirring the pot. My father, the ‘honorable’ king of our world. There is nothing honorable about that narcissistic pseudo-messiah, he is no more fit to lead a country than president Rodger A. Jesterson on Terra. There is nothing ‘honorable’ about me either, as I am a member of the resistance. “Ah, would you look at that! Our Flamely Queen has returned!” spoke a boy in a sleeveless black jumpsuit, “How may we serve you today, on this dank and desolate night?” He asked with a grandiose gesture of his left paw, a paw so beaten from retreat it is a wonder it is still operational. This very battle-worn boy has an annoying tendency to ‘welcome’ me each time I return to the claustrophobic, nyctophobic, trypophobic cave that is the home of his resistance cell, though over the course of our four-year allyship I have become

accustomed to this. The Cave – as they call it – is truly a frightening place, but at least the people do not stick up their long snouts at you to pretend they are taller. “You need not announce my presence so loudly that it echoes off the walls, Aro’Fek.” I scolded, “Now, have you and your soldiers found me a ship yet?” His already large, lime green, almond shaped eyes widened and his ears swerved down. The rest of his tall, spindly, shacklefurred body was frozen in place. Not a single new wrinkle appeared in the thick, onyx colored fabric of his jumpsuit that was draped over his fur. His black fleece scarf was pressed down by his ears that were larger than his head, and the flames that reached from his dark ash colored forehead to the scorched white base of his skull dimmed to a luminescent orange, indicating to me that he was nervous. He clearly did not have my ship. He had promised me he would find it before the seventh orbit, I am beginning to think our alliance is weakening. “W-well…” he stuttered, “Not exactly…” “Not exactly? It is a yes or no question, Aro’Fek.” My patience was going, the flames atop my head shifted to a bloody hue of blue, I watched the light reflect off his eyes. He backed away slowly, the clicking of his nails echoing throughout the dank cave that was solely lit by the colorful flames on the heads and tail tips of the resistance members. Their flames shifted to the slight and quiet citrusy color of terror, dimming the light in the dark cavity so that the brightest light was my enraged cerulian inferno. “No, we don’t have it… but we will! Soon…” He was clearly terrified, I was about a paw height taller than him and he knew all too well my bad temper. All Aro’Ra have a bad temper, but mine was particularly short. With a clear and unobstructable tone I spoke, “How soon?” I asked, my well groomed paws coming closer to him in a slow and steady pace. “S-soon enough…” I took a strong step forward, “How soon!?” With the raising of my voice he recoiled and his blaze of

fear grew brighter, my shouting stoked my own blue crown of fire. Crouched into a knobbly ball of flight, he responded, “Two days.” His tone was shaky but truthful. That gave me plenty of time, I would be able to escape unnoticed. Stealth would be hard, not many ships leave here, but luckily we had a rather weak planetary defense on the inner side. Five days ago a general of sorts came to the High Castle with a request to limit outgoing ships, as to reduce the chance of intelligence escaping. As the liaison between the royals and the others – including nobles – he came to me. I turned his proposal down. Thinking about this calmed my flames, and they returned to their regular color. “Two days…” I echoed, “There are three days until the end of the sixth orbit, I should have enough time, as long as you get me my ship on time. I expect to see it at the mouth of The Cave when I come back in two days.” He nodded quickly and smiled, but his grin was cracked and disingenuous and only lasted one second. His orange blaze dimmed as I backed away, our uncomfortable closeness that created a squared claustrophobia faded with the distance that I was cultivating between us. “Understood…” His face grew into a brighter smile, a smile that was purely for performance, “My Flamely Queen.” He bowed his head as he spoke, mocking the customs of interaction with royalty. He gazed at me with his head low until I decided to leave The Cave a moment after, and his glare followed me as I trotted down the dark tunnel that led out of the room. The devious path was damp with fear and anger, it went on for a long distance in almost pure darkness. Soon I could feel the fur-burning dry heat of the surface. I despise the heat of the west, but I preferred it to the creeping guilt that was forever in my wake at the High Castle. Upon my return I was greeted by the castle guards, two burly men with limbs as thick as my paw who stood at the castle gates with spears. They were so tall that I could not see their eyes over their jaws. They gave me no trouble, as it was not their place to question a royal. I easily made my way

to my room, the only thing that could have happened was an encounter with another guard. My door was far too tall, it was somewhat difficult to open because of the sheer size of it. ‘The height is symbolic,’ I have heard. I hate symbolism. It creaked as I pushed it with my head, and made a loud and deep boom as it finally closed. With the last of my energy I ran to my bed and fell face-first into the large furry blankets. From there I fell into a deep sleep.

I got a very late start the next morning, waking only hours before the cycle ended. I decided against leaving my room that day, and I only packed my things. The perpetual twilight of the east was refreshing to wake up to. I have heard stories of the Terrans who open their eyes to the burning light of their yellow sun – Sol – every morning. I will have to prepare myself for that. There was a building anxiety in the air, and it got worse the stiller I was. I kept myself moving, packing my bag with various essential things around my obscenely large room. The silver spires on my bed were twice my standing height, and they were far from ever reaching my domed ceiling adorned with a mural that depicted the first revolution. The images of the people were horribly inaccurate to the true events of the first revolution, with New Kingdom soldiers shown in glowing light and divinity and the Old Kingdom natives seen in total darkness. The truth of that war was that it was the New Kingdom soldiers who were the true snarl-faced savages. I never liked waking up every day only to see these lies. I never liked this room, but somehow I knew I would miss it. Soon I had to retire to my bed again. ‘This will be the last time I sleep in these sheets,’ I thought. I made sure to savor the softness and warmth of the blankets. One last time.

The lies and deception of the painting on my ceiling greeted me once more. I woke very early in the cycle, much

earlier than any of my nosy family members. The guards would not question my departure as they are not allowed to, and my disguise was sure to work as it has not failed me for many years. I tried to free myself from the pit of comfort that was my bed; the blue and brown sheets tried to pull me back in and the mattress made a slope that was intimidating, but I arose, as I did every morning. I stepped into my royal gown, almost tripping a few times over the long, iridescent tulle train. I hate my gown, but luckily I will only need it to get past the guards. After leaving the walls through the back way, I can traverse the noble’s courtyard, and there I can shed my gown and put on my cloak. My royal necklace will be no hassle. It simply disappears in my thick, black, consuming cloak. On arriving at The Cave, I immediately noticed the absence of my ship. My fire was brightening to a dangerous blue, but just as I was about to call for Aro’Fek, I heard a whirring noise. The area at the entrance of the cave seemed to warp and ripple, soon it created the silhouette of a large structure with two half-rings. It faded into view; it was my ship. Off the ship stepped that battered boy, with his head high and two others trailing behind him as he strolled toward me. His flames were a bright and prideful lime green, and the borax of his confidence snuffed out his usual stench of rotting leadership. With an insufferable cocky grin he spoke loudly, “Your ship, my Flamely Queen.” I gave him a sarcastic smirk. “There is no need for you to call me such a thing, you helpless refugee.” I mocked his chivalry.

“Oh, my dear, why are you ever so dissatisfied with my gifts to you?” he asked. His eastern accent was exasperating, truly terrible. “A cloak,” I remarked, “So that is why it took you so long, you wanted to get me a ship with a cloak.” It made a bit more sense now, why it took so long, why he had been so cheeky about it… I recognised the design. “It must have taken

some incredible deception to get a Esinac stealth cruiser.” The planet Koeffa of the Esin is a neighbor to us, orbiting our sun at a farther distance of three million ki’go1 away. “The terrans have a word for a man like you: simp.” The two men behind him stared intently, their blazes were unreadable, neutral, a mixture of reds, yellows and blues. “Who are they?” I asked. Without missing a beat he replied, “Your crew, you can’t operate this ship on your own.” I scoffed. “Watch me.” I pranced past the three boys, and skipped onto the ship with petty glee. “Goodbye Aro’Fek!” I shouted as I closed the door. I engaged the cloak and activated the impulse engines, “Goodbye, Ra.” The ship took off with a powerful thrust, it flew, past the perimeter security, past the artificial moon, and into the void. My species have been called many things, the Esin call us mjimofo2, the people of the Terran’s Japanese archipelago know us as kitsune, but I will tell you who we really are… Tyrants. I set a course to Terra, and engaged warp engines.

1 Three million ki’go is equivalent to 7.5 million kilometers. 2 mjimofo is Esinac for ‘evil sticks’... it loses something in the translation.