Empire's Son: An Epic Science Fiction Novel Series

My new name was Jasper Ruloc and I was from a small village on Frillnax. I came to Sora X for a chance at glory and a better life, in that order too, like almost everyone else who sought out the College. I had been born an inconvenient natural conception by two highly placed officers in the Vanguard, and had been left to a special home for displaced children, though when I called it an orphanage Markus looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. So I decided to just stick with a home for displaced children.

Markus said that the best lies were ones that were not far from the truth. I didn’t tell him I never considered myself orphaned and that I had come from a happy home thank you very much, but I played along and did my best to memorize my new backstory.

It was kind of fun. It made me feel like I was an actor in a play, or maybe like some kind of international spy, though I suppose it was more like interstellar spy. But instead of spying for government plans or super secret information, I was spying on what life was like for Ethians that weren’t born to an Emperor. I had to say that this might be more informative than a month worth of Dur-rele lessons, and I was eager to get started!

Certainly, I had my doubts about all of this, but after Markus’s heart felt confession and what he’d said about our time together as children, I felt compelled to see this through. I wasn’t sure how things would shake out with Markus and I on a personal level, and I think Markus was more than a little embarrassed about admitting to our childhood pact to be friends again if I ever came back to the Empire, but I had seen it as a testament to once was, and the integrity of a man honoring a once friendship.

He didn’t have to honor anything. He could have washed his hands of it, especially when he found out I didn’t remember a thing from my previous time in Ethia. And yet, here he was, willing to put himself at risk for me, or at least for the person I used to be. My head was still trying to get around that concept. It left me with questions about myself, about who I had been, and mostly about this crazy intense person that was willing to go to great lengths on my behalf.

For now, I would have to put all those questions aside. Markus had made it clear that we had limited time to get ready, and so I had dedicated my attention to the task of becoming Jasper Ruloc, but I had also come to the decision that when this was all said and done, I would endeavor to learn more about Markus Nador, his family, and the life I had once had here.

So it was only after a hurried two hours of prepping that I was stepping into my temporary new life. Markus had found some worn clothes to wear that would fit in with my new character. Instead of my soft and well-fitted clothes and long coat, I now sported a pair of black plants that had a wide red stripe running down the outer legs that were just a little too snug, and a light grey long-sleeved shirt that was tattered on the ends and was two sizes too big. I had also trimmed my hair so that it was almost a buzz cut.

I had to admit that as stood staring at myself in a reflective window of a building in a back alley of the College, that I was pretty unrecognizable even without an identity modifier. I heard the door to the building open and I quickly clicked the center dial of the modifier to turn it back on. Markus had said to leave it activated, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to see the difference of how I looked with and without it.

He had attached the quarter sized device to just below the middle of my collar bone. The thing adhered right to my skin and it was stuck on there good. I was a little concerned that it might be a permanent fixture to my body, but Markus said it could be easily removed with a special solvent when it was time to take it off. In the meantime, I was to leave it on and keep it activated, even when I was asleep.

Once I turned it back on, I watched the changes to my face with fascination. The device instantly made my cheek bones a little lower, my chin wider, and nose just a little smaller. My eyes were also now a dull brown instead of their noticeable bright blue.

“Didn’t I tell you to leave that on?” I heard Marcus’s irritated voice as he stepped out of the back door of the establishment he had disappeared into only a few minutes ago.

“Sorry,” I said a little sheepishly. “It wasn’t off long. I just wanted to see if it really made a difference. There wasn’t a mirror in the bunker. I’m actually proud of myself that my hair turned out as well as it did, though those shears you let me use seemed to know what to do without me having to do much at all.”

Markus strolled up to me and shook his head. “They were just regular cutters. What? You didn’t have them where you grew up?”

I laughed. “Markus, they didn’t have a lot of things I’ve been introduced to since I arrived in Ethia back where I grew up.”

“Sounds like a boring place.” He started up the alley and motioned for me to follow. “Come on. I got what I needed. Now we need to get you where you need to go.”

I followed after him, making sure to stay away from the darkened walls of the narrow alley. There looked be some sort of wicked looking scorpion bugs of some kind skittering in the darker places and I wasn’t eager to know more about what they might do if I accidentally touched one.

“Did you really have to burn the hair I cut off, my other clothes, and my unity ring though?” I had stood by watching and quite impressed that he’d managed to even melt away the metal of the unity ring with some sort of torching flame from the left arm of MRX suit he had briefly put back on to get rid of proof I’d been in the bunker.

Markus walked and talked. I found he wasn’t one to waste time and often multitasked to get things done faster. My mom and him would have gotten on really well.

“Couldn’t leave any trace of what we were doing behind. Now if they search the bunker, they’ll just find a scorch mark and wonder when and why it was made.”

“So how long do you think all this will take?” I said a little nervous about our conversation being overheard or someone accidentally running into us as we traversed the College by alleyway.

Markus informed me the lockdown had been lifted almost an hour ago, and that most people kept to the streets and avoided the allies as a general rule, so the back streets made for a perfect way to move around the College without being seen.

I didn’t ask why most people avoided the allies, but as many of those scorpion bugs I saw, and the fact they liked to jump unexpectedly from one wall across to the opposite most likely made for an effective deterrent to many people. Markus, however, seemed unbothered by them, and had an oddly accurate way of darting through the alleys to miss the little buggers’ acrobatic leaps.

So far I think I’d just been lucky. A few had almost landed right on me, but I managed to dance away fast enough to avoid contact. I hoped we were getting to where we were supposed to go soon, because I was sure my luck would run out sooner rather than later. And I really wasn’t that good of a dancer.

“For you to find who is trying to get to me and how long I need to be this Jasper Ruloc person?” I added as I once again had to jerk to a stop as a bug flew across the alley, missing the tip of my nose by mere centimeters.

The large pinchers on the elongated insect looked intimidating enough, but it was the giant stinger on the tail that made me shutter as I once again barely missed getting to know the bug in a personal way. How come I never noticed these things before? Though, I had spent the majority of my time at the College in well traveled places and in the chalet, so that may have had something to do with it.

“As long as it takes,” was his gruff response, but then he seemed to think about it and added, “I don’t know, but it shouldn’t be more than two or three days. Maybe five at the most.”

“What if something goes wrong? Or someone discovers who I really am? Or something happens to you?” I didn’t want to add “if they kill you,” but I was certainly thinking it.

At the time that Markus had presented the idea of me enrolling into the Program, I had thought it exciting and that it might be fun, even all the way up until we left the bunker and started walking the back alleyway. But as we traveled through the College, questions began to arise in my mind, and the closer we got to our destination, my doubts to the success of this plan started to rise significantly.

I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that I would soon be on my own, or the continuous gauntlet with the scorpion bugs, but I was suddenly starting to realize that maybe this whole plan would be putting me in a position of risk that I wasn’t completely comfortable with.

Markus threw me a hard look over his shoulder like he knew exactly what I was thinking. “You have your distress beacon. Activate if if you feel your identity has been compromised, or if you feel you might be in any danger. Other than that, Gayle and Kiev will be checking in with you regularly while I’m doing what I am doing.”

I reached over and lightly caressed the tiny bump on the inside of my left wrist. If you didn’t know what was there, you might think it was just a small deformity of the skin, not a big deal. Markus had inserted it with a small gun looking thing. It hurt like someone had shot me with a beanbag round, but the pain quickly faded. He said all I had do to activate it was to press and hold the bump for five seconds and it sent a signal directly to Gayle’s and Kiev’s unity rings.

“What exactly will you be doing? You haven’t said much about that.” I didn’t like the fact that Markus had been so vague on his part of the plan, but he said it didn’t directly involved me, so I didn’t need to know.

“You have enough to focus on. It’s going to be a lot for you to just remember not to slip up with your new identity and to try to fit in. Your security is crucial to how well you play your part.”

“Yeah, I get it. It’s just…”

Markus stopped suddenly, which caused me to come to a stumbling stop. And in that instant we stood face to face with our noses almost touching.

“Don’t worry about me, worry about you. Do not even think about what I am doing. Use all your attention on maintaining your cover. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.” I almost flinched under his hard gaze, but I didn’t. I wasn’t going to be intimidated by this person, or anyone else. My dad had taught me better than that.

The man before me stood there for a long moment looking daggers into me as if trying to press his point, but then he stepped back with a bit of a smirk and nodded.

“Good.”

He then turned around and started his walk down the alley once more. I stood there for a moment and I couldn’t help but think that he meant more than just good that I understood what he was trying to tell me. It was like he had sized me up and found what he saw as good too. I had to smile a little at that. I started to follow him again.

It wasn’t long before Markus rounded a corner and came to a complete halt. I strolled up next to him. I looked out into the wide street before us and I realized that we were back in the lower part of the school, not too far from where I had taken my quat-lo assessment. Across the street from us was a large building with the words Cadet Residence Hall.

Markus nodded to the large archway front entrance where a line of people in clothes much like myself were waiting to enter. A stern looking Pledge and a Disciple stood at the opening of the archway talking with a plain clothes person at the head of the line. The Pledge held a data pad and seemed to be checking it for something. He seemed satisfied and nodded at the civilian. The Disciple handed the man a medium sized pouch, and then gestured for him to enter. Then the next person in line stepped up.

“All you need to do is to get in line. They will check you in, give you a welcome packet, and another Pledge or Disciple inside will assign you a bed. Gayle already put your fake name and personal details in the system as a preregister, so you won’t have to worry about that.

“The induction will be in a few hours. Make sure you dress in the uniform they provide and be at the assembly area on time. They will let you know when. And just so you know, the College frowns at tardiness, so never be late for anything unless you want remediation.

“Gayle should be around some time today to introduce herself, so you know what she looks like. Just keep your head down and make sure––”

“I stay in character,” I finished for him. “Yes, Markus I know. You’ve said that a lot over the last few hours.”

He gave me a stern look to reenforce his words. “Because it’s important.”

“Yes, mom,” I said with a little more attitude than I had intended. I really did hate being told something a million times. I didn’t care how important it was.

Markus narrowed his eyes at me. “Why would you make a comment like that? I am not your mother.”

It took great effort not laugh at the perplexed look on his face. “It’s just a saying from Earth, that’s all. Don’t worry about it. So is there anything else I need to know?” I said hurriedly changing the subject.

“No. This is where we part ways.”

I nodded as I watched the next person get in line. “Alright. Well, good luck with your hunt. I guess I will see you in a fe––” I stopped as I turned to Markus to find that he was gone.

I looked back down the dark alley to find that empty too. I was all alone. “Guess he’s not one for long goodbyes.” I shrugged my shoulders, and then stepped out in the busy wide street to make my way to the back of the line.