HUMBLE SPACER 25 NOV 3306 (snake in the grass)
25 Nov 2020Igli
Life was good and business was thriving as my little passenger transportation venture was building up reputation in nearby systems. Credits were rolling in. Unfortunately larger profits meant a danger increase. Very In any epoch the high and mighty always made a lot of enemies. A judge who sentenced an innocent father of seven hungry children to life would not meet his end peacefully in a bed surrounded by mournful heirs. Instead his death would be violent and ugly, gasping for air with perforated lungs trying to stuff his own guts back into a ripped open abdomen with cold fingerless hands slimy with blood. Yummy.
Or a corrupt politician who decided to offer a deficient cubage inside a crammed space station much needed for a charity hospital to an apartment developer who bribed him during a time of a disease outbreak? He painted a shooting mark on his back. Many would aim at it.
Indeed I earnestly believed that cosmos would inevitably bend its way so that everyone got what they deserved. On the contrary I was payed handsomely to avert threats to my passengers no matter how much I wished to murder all of them myself. Thus I had to enhance my defences, most importantly, shileds. I heard rumors of a prismatic shield tech - a very potent contraption - and a tightly guarded secret.
They said that it was singularly granted by Aisling Duval's cronies and only for faithful service to the royalty. Her realm was far from my usual area of operations but nevertheless I travelled to Cubeo. I pledged loyalty to the fair and beautiful princess and earned a rank of Outsider. How encouraging.
My job as an errand boy consisted in delivering Aisling Duval's imperial propaganda to the star systems she intended to put in her pocket. It served to sway a public's opinion in favour of the princess via mass media. And it worked. Planets fell to her feet. Word - stronger than a sword. More dangerous than mass destruction weapons.
What a horrible snake hid under the guise of a seemingly naive and lovely girl. She would get what she deserved one day.