The only people who knew your chosen name, the single name that was yours and yours alone, were your parents, siblings, and your mate. A Gnaggarrian chose their private name when they came of age at sixteen. In the eleven years since then, I had told no-one my private name.
I had nobody to tell.
I had attended school, excelling until I had to leave. Gnaggarrians of my lowly rank were prevented from obtaining all but the most basic education. Why waste precious resources of the Empire on those who weren’t Elite?
My entire life I had plotted while I served, not showing my true desires. But now that freedom was within my grasp, I was becoming impatient.
The shuttle shook as we breeched the planet’s atmosphere. I looked through the wide glass panels of the shuttle’s cockpit at the stunning vista. This planet was nothing like the Gnaggarrian home world.
I snorted. Not that I had ever been there, it being a place only for the Elite, of course, but I had seen many holo projections.
The Gnaggarrian home planet was ice and snow, where this one was tropical and warm through the equator. It looked like there were some patches of more temperate land, and it was toward one of these that Luk 8thsteered the shuttle.
I glanced at the young Elite. He gritted his teeth, sweat pouring from his forehead as he focused. His hair was cut short on the sides, in the military fashion, and was longer on top, caught back in a warrior’s braid. The pale brown was streaked with dark purple that twisted throughout the strands. My hair was fashioned in the same style, but where 8th’s hair was darker, mine was almost white, and the purple was so faint it could almost be missed if you didn’t look closely enough.
Another sign of my inferior status.
But, as I watched Luk 8th,I realized I was no longer angry at the fates that had decided we should be so different. I felt sorry for him. He was just as much a prisoner as I was. The difference between us was that, unlike me, he held all the power.
The shuttle stopped shaking, and Luk 8thslumped in his seat, sighing, the auto-landing sequence taking over. I lookedaway, and back at the continent that appeared below us as the shuttle rapidly descended, directing us to the landing pad.
The planet had once been a thriving mining colony on a major trading route, but had long since been abandoned. When the precious ore was no longer needed, the old workings were closed and the trade route that had relied so heavily on shipping the ore had moved much further away.
Typical of the Empire to just toss things away when they’re of no monetary value.
I pushed the thought away. It wouldn’t do to dwell on things I couldn’t change.
But the very nature of this planet made it a suitable spot for black market activity. And that was where Luk 8thand I came in.
He was ostensibly in charge of our mission. I was just the lackey, carting equipment and following orders. But we both knew that wasn’t the case. We’d been working together for almost a year now, and had become, if not close, then at least as friendly as an Elite could with someone like me.
The remote location of this planet made it a prime candidate for smugglers and mercenaries, and our task was to survey the old transportal technology that had been used to move workers and small shipments of goods to and from the site and render it inert. It had been so long since the transportals had been used that so far none we had come across had been operational, but still we had to check.
The irony that the same mercenaries who were helping me escape my life under the thumb of the Gnaggarrian Empire were the ones we were attempting to stymie was not lost on me.
I wasn’t able to get more than a passing glance at snow-topped mountains and green meadows before the shuttleapproached our landing spot, hovering over the grass-filled field near some ruins, before settling down on the legs that emerged from the underside of the vessel.
As it powered down, I unstrapped my harness, easing from the seat and moving to exit the tiny shuttle. There was enough room for the two seats, two cramped bunks, and a multi-function hygiene room. Any equipment we needed was stowed in the overhead lockers, and it was one of these that I opened, pulling down the bags of equipment.
“Sir?” I asked Luk 8th, who was still fumbling with his harness, his hands shaking. His hair had slid over his face and, with his head bowed, it hit me just how young he was. He had turned nineteen on the previous solar and this was the first mission he had commanded alone. All the others we had done with another team. He would be nervous.
I pressed my lips together in annoyance. I didn’t want to feel sorry for him.
The young Elite finally broke free of his harness and stood, wiping a hand over his brow and pushing a sweaty strand of purple hair behind his ear. He looked up at me and gave a shaky smile. “We’ve done this before, right? It’s just like the other times.”
I nodded, a little stunned. Normally he followed the dictates to not make eye contact or acknowledge me except where absolutely necessary. Maybe he had only been doing that because of the presence of other Elites? Maybe I had misjudged him?
Don’t get distracted. All that matters is getting to the exile planet. Nothing else.
I turned and punched the button to release the ramp. A rush of air pushed past me as the pressure in the cabinequalized with that of the outside. I blinked to clear my vision as the cool air spilled into the shuttle.
There was snow on the ground in some places, but green was peeking through. It was quiet. I stood at the top of the ramp and close my eyes, taking a deep breath. A sense of peace filled me, almost as if the universe were telling me that things would get better today. That life was about to get better.
You know what happens to people who wish.
I opened my eyes, giving myself a mental shake, and strode down the ramp toward the crumbling building that held the transportal, Luk 8thtrailing behind me.
Some ancient architect, in all their wisdom, had decided that the technology should be housed in replicas of the ancient Gnaggarrian Empire structures. This building was stunning, with crumbling columns of stone and marble tiles that were laid out in intricate patterns. The columns themselves were depictions of the Gnaggarrian men with arms raised overhead holding up the roof. Their muscular forms straining under the weight of the roof of the building. The building itself was no more than a roof held up by those strong columns, with a wall no taller than hip height on three sides.
