"Breakaway - Chapter 1" by Michael D, Bradley-Robbins

A Ruler

The sun rose red over the sands of Hra. Chieftain Chf'drak woke up with a bad headache. He walked slowly to the bathroom. He stepped into the shower alcove and turned on the water. As the cool water ran down his body, he tried to recall the events of last night.

***

As Chieftain Chf'drak was finishing his dinner the comm beeped. Upon answering it he received terrible news. Hra's king had been assassinated. No murder weapon had been found and the police had no suspects.

Drak was dumbfounded. King Chf'al had been a great mentor. After all, he was Drak's father. Drak's mother, Queen Cha'ku had died only years earlier. Now the throne was left to Drak's reckless older brother Chf'ab.

Drak knew that Ab would abuse the power of the throne. Ab had abused power before when he was the chieftain of a neighboring town. His abuse got him thrown out of office.

When Drak got off the comm he turned on the holo projector. All he saw was news of his father's death. He couldn't bear it anymore so he went to bed.

That night his sleep was shallow and dreamless. He woke up several times in a cold sweat, trying to win a futile fight with reality.

***

As he mulled over last night's events, Drak wondered what he would do. Would he have to plan the funeral? Would he have to execute the will?

But he remembered that his father never believed that he would love such a short life, ergo he never drafted a will. A pity, Drak thought, as the probate courts would decide how to divide the estate.

Without warning the comm beeped, startling Drak. He answered it. The local holonet broadcasting agent was on the other end asking Drak to address the public on the king's death. The chieftain couldn't say no even though he knew he didn't want to speak on a worldwide holonet broadcast.

***

Later that evening, Drak stepped up behind a podium in front of a large crowd. Everyone in the crowd was mourning the king's death. "People of Vi'oh, it is with great sadness that I come before you tonight," the chieftain said mournfully. "King Chf'al - my father - has been killed by an assassin. The king's eldest son, Chf'ab will assume the throne. I pray that he will bring harmony to our troubled world. I come before you as your chieftain to help my people through this troubled time. King Chf'al's killer will be found and brought to justice." The young chieftain started to choke up. "Excuse me," he said, "I must go now." With that he walked off the stage.

As soon as Drak got safely behind closed doors he was overcome with grief. As he wept uncontrollably his aide came up to him and offered comfort. "No, I'm fine," replied the chieftain. "I just need some time alone." As soon as his aide left he fell to his knees. He threw his head up and shouted, "Why me? Why did you have to put me through this? My father didn't have to die! His soul was pure!" Then a still small voice comforted the young hra'vakh saying that everything that had transpired happened for a good reason. With that, the chieftain lay down and slept.

***

The next morning Drak was woken by his principal advisor Phi'al. "Sir, your brother is accepting the oath of the throne as we speak. Come with me. You must be there," he said hurriedly.

"I don't want to see that liar," replied Drak gruffly.

"But you are obligated to be there, as you are next in line for the throne," replied Phi'al.

"Do you know what that dirty crook did? He completely robbed the people of Vi'akh. He imposed taxes on them without listening to their pleas for a more structured budget. He didn't do a single thing about their polluted water. The only thing he needed to do was to build water treatment plants on the rivers. I told him that. He didn't listen. He even went so far as to say, 'That would cost too much money.' I told him that he had more than enough money to build the necessary facilities, but he refused, saying, 'What I do with the revenue from the taxes is my problem.' I knew he was spending the taxpayers' money on non-essentials like top-notch equipment for the archivists in the libraries when their equipment was already superior to anything else on Hra. Then one day he has the nerve to come and ask me for money. I told him that he could go jump in the sea for all I cared, and then I reported his miser-like ways to the people Vi'akh. A month later he was recalled and replaced. He never forgave me for that. I just spurred along what was already coming."

"I understand that you don't like your brother, but you're obligated to be there. You don't really have a choice," Phi'al said assertively.

"All right," Drak said reluctantly, "I'll go out. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to like it." The two hurried out and sat in their seats just as Ab was given the crown.

After being presented the crown, Ab remarked, "I promise to restore the economy and fix the budget that has been askew for so long." Cheers flew up all around, but a red flag flew up in Drak's mind. Both he and Ab new there was nothing wrong with the budget.

After the coronation Drak confronted his brother. "Don't you dare repeat what you did with Vi'akh!" he warned.

"You know full well that the budget isn't right. I have to fix it," retorted Ab.

"I know exactly what you mean," rebutted Drak.

"There's nothing you can do to stop me," said Ab indignantly.

"I'll see that you're out of the picture before you can destroy the planet," Drak retorted, disgusted at his brother's greed.

"What're you going to do? Kill me?"

"If I have to."