Yutu

 

        Several days went by and no one knew anything"at least they were not talking about it if they did.    Training proceeded as usual, but my emotions proceeded to overwhelm me.  My grief could not be contained underneath a mask of management.  A plot to overthrow the world government was no small thing and if he succeeded, we were all doomed.  Who knew what his evil reign might entail.  If it was in my power to stop it, to keep people from suffering, then I knew I had to find a way to do it.  Vester, unfortunately, had many things going for him that I did not.  He had money and men at his disposal.  I was the leader of a squad, but I had no real power to enforce the law outside of our camp.   

        I was trying to figure out what my next move was, who I needed to talk to, when I overheard a conversation between two of my men.  They were drinking and playing a late night game of cards.  I stood in the shadows, silent like a spy as they talked inside one of the few adobe homes in the camp.  A lamp light spilled out of a window and onto the pathway.  I was careful not to be seen. 

        “Vester is mad!” Capac laughed.

        “Maybe, but it pays well.” Urco replied.

        “It is a shame that that poor b*****d Ky-Ty got killed.  He was a good solider, but he was medaling things that ought not to be medaled in! I will raise you ten Sol,” Titu said.

         “Yeah, but I know who had fun killing him"someone who doesn’t care who he kills,” Yutu said.

         I closed my eyes and thought, Please just tell me who and I won’t have you drawn and quartered. 

         “I don’t know how the two you can talk so casually about something so cruel.  Vester will kill anyone who gets in his way and I am afraid Force Captain Jadora is about to.  Don’t you care if your commanding officer is off’d?” Suri cried.

         “Jadora can look out for herself,” Yutu sighed.

         “Yeah,” Capac laughed, “She has the most reformed a*s I’ve ever seen!  If anyone could whip Vester into shape, she could.  I’ll see you and raise you six Sol.”

          “She is a good solider, but no one likes her.  I doubt anyone would follow her into battle against Vester,” Urco declared.

           I was growing angrier by the minute.  So this is how they talk about me behind my back? Damn them.  So much for loyalty. Who needed them anyway!

        “Come on, she may be a cold-hearted b***h, but she hasn’t done anything to personally piss any of us off.  She has a job to do and she does it well,” Suri said.

         “Maybe she’d slept with Ky-Ty, she wouldn’t have been so tightly wound,” Yutu laughed. 

         “Well, Ky-Ty was too busy getting busy with Oello,” Capac pointed out.

         “I’ll see you and raise you two Sol,” Urco said.

         As chips clinked on the table, I shifted my weight.  My legs were getting tired and I was getting frustrated.  Despite my caution, Yutu still heard me.  “What was that?” Yutu asked.

         “Vester’s ghost!” Capac laughed.

        “Very funny,” Yutu said sarcastically.

        On that note, I slipped away into the dark.  I glanced up at the three moons.  What was I going to do?  I had to watch myself.  Every move I made was important since it could mean life or death"not only for me, but for many others.  I wished that Yutu had revealed Ky-Ty’s killer.  If I confronted Yutu though, I might end up rousing Vester’s wrath.  The last thing I needed was to draw attention to myself.  As much as I wanted to take my anger out on Yutu for Ky-Ty’s senseless death, I knew it would be counterproductive. 

         I returned to my own adobe dwelling and slipped out of my uniform.  In a cotton shift, I laid down on my bed tried to sleep.  In the cold darkness, I found myself doing something I hadn’t in a long time.  I prayed to the gods for guidance.  I felt helpless against someone and something much larger than myself and my insignificant work as Force Captain.  I touched my dagger that sat on my night stand and closed my eyes.  I wouldn’t have been surprised if one my men slit my throat in the middle of the night.  Perhaps it was time to leave the Force. 

        After a long while, I finally drifted into unconsciousness.  That night I had a nightmare, which I hadn’t had since I was a child.  I was alone, facing Vester.  I was powerless as he chased me and tortured me.  Terrified that he would kill me and that would be the end, I tore myself from the dream and forced myself to wake up.  I vowed to do whatever I could to keep him from killing me and winning his war on Ashen-Sy.

        Before anyone else awoke, I dressed and took a long walk along the red-blue trail.  It led around the small sandy hills that surrounded the area.  I did a lot of thinking on that walk.  I focused on what had happened and what my role was in the whole thing.  I tried my best to center myself and prepare for what needed to be done. 

        I found myself at Yutu’s hut as the sun peaked over the temple that morning.  I knocked on the wooden door.  “Yutu, I need to speak to you!” I called.

        “Come in,” he greeted pleasantly as he opened the door.  From the smile on his face, I guessed he’d won the game the night before.  

         I stepped in, nervously tossing my chestnut brown hair over my shoulder.  I always wore it back it in a pony tail, but it was so long that still got in the way.  I watched him tuck away an item into a drawer before he turned back to me. 

         Yutu saw my troubled expression and asked, “What is the matter?”

         “I’ll cut to the chase.  You need to tell me who murdered Ky-Ty!”

         “How the hell would I know that?  It was probably some stupid street thug.”

         “You and I both know there aren’t many of those around these parts, so don’t play dumb with me.  I know you know, so out with it before I have you court marshaled!”

         He gave a nervous laughed, “I wish I could help you, but I seriously don’t know what you are talking about!”

         I drew my dagger that I always carried and pointed it toward his throat.  “Give me a reason not to slit your throat right now?”

       “No need to resort to violence Force Captain! I will tell you what I know, but it isn’t much.”

       “You do know that I can read your mind don’t you?  I will know if you are lying to me, so don’t even bother to try.  Got it?”

       “Ha! You can’t read minds.  That is just a trick.”

       “I know that you and Capac are working for Vester.  At the moment I am willing to overlook your betrayal.”

       “How kind of you considering that you have no proof, only your delusions!”
       “You either tell me what I want to know or I will grind your pompous a*s into the ground until you finally become useful as fertilizer!”

       “You won’t kill me; you don’t have it in you Jadora.  You are all talk.”

       I stepped forward and pressed my dagger into his neck until a tiny stream of blood appeared on his pale skin.  His beady yellow eyes glared at me with hatred.  “You want to know the truth?  Fine,” he growled.  “Chayna.”

       “Chayna has been attending to her good-for-nothing husband who does nothing but drink.  She doesn’t have time to do Vester’s dirty work.  You are stalling!”

       “Why don’t you ask her how she pays for his little leaf habit?”

       “I’d believe that her husband Purutu killed Ky-Ty, but not Chayna.”

       “Believe what you want.   Vester is going to hunt you down and torture you.  He will enjoy hearing you scream.  He loves punishing those who go against him.”

       “I am not afraid of him,” I lied.

       “You should be,” he said. 

       We stood silently, each of us waiting for someone to give.  I watched his lip twitch as he glared down at my dagger.  I had my answer.  What was I waiting for?  People like Yutu didn’t deserve to live I told myself.  Swiftly I drew my dagger across his throat and watched as he collapsed, clutching at his open wound.  He gurgled as blood gushed out of him.  I wiped my bloody dagger on his clean pants and turned to leave.  No one had seen me go in or out as far as I knew.  It didn’t matter even if they did, I was leaving.

       I slipped back to my quarters to grab my cloak and a pack full of supplies.  I knew that if I was caught, I would not only be fired, but most likely killed.  I hurried out of my home, hoping that the portable force-field tucked within my cloak would keep me invisible.  I’d never told anyone, not Rachel and certainly not my parents, about the cloaking device I’d managed to get a hold of.  It had come in handy now and again over the past five or six years.  Now, it was a lifesaver. 

        I made my way to where Chayna and her husband Purutu lived.  They were merchants at the edge of the village.  They traveled to the Diamond Sea and brought back fish and fine textiles to sell.  Recently they had been traveling beyond the Blue Forrest to the Crescent Mountains for Erythroxy.  Chayna had known Ky-Ty as long as I had.  We’d both considered him a friend.  I found it hard to believe that she’d so easily betray him, but I had to consider the possibility that she did.  It seemed as if everything I knew had be swept out from under me once this stupid map had come into my life.  I cursed the map and Ky-Ty for getting in way over his head. 

       Pleasant memories stirred as I approached Chayna’s cottage.  Many a night was spent in her courtyard by the fire.  We drank and laughed and had a good time together, the four of us.  Ky-Ty was an outcast when he first joined the force.  He came from savannah across the sea and wasn’t like the rest of us.  Chayna and Purutu welcomed him in their home and their lives and made him feel like he belonged.  For a while, many people thought Ky-Ty were together since we spent so much time in each other’s company.  Truthfully, I had loved him, but I never felt like I was in love with him.  I wasn’t sure why romance never bloomed.  When he took me back to the Andahuaylas, to his home, I thought perhaps he might have fallen in love with me.  I wasn’t sure if he never made his move because Chayna and Purutu came with us or because he didn’t think I felt the same"but for whatever reason"nothing happened.

        As a wave of sadness washed over me, I came to Chayna’s door.  I knocked lightly and disarmed the cloaking device as I waited for her to answer. 

       “Jadora!” she exclaimed happily when she saw me standing there.

        I stepped inside her adobe home feeling like all my wonderful memories had been false.  I was feeling bitter and betrayed even though I didn’t know it was her for sure.  “Rimaykullayki,” I greeted.  That was the traditional hello of our language.

       “Rimaykullayki,” she greeted back.  “So what brings you out our way today?”

       “Sad news I am afraid.”

       “Why? What happened?” she asked making her way into her kitchen.  I followed her as she resumed making dinner over her hearth. 

        “A friend of ours has been murdered,” I said casually.  How on Ashen-Sy could I avenge Ky-Ty’s death if she was the murderer?  I loved her like a sister.  Yutu I felt no guilt over killing, but if I shed Chayna’s blood I knew it would haunt me for the rest of my life. 

       “Who?”she asked curiously.  Did she really not know?  Was she innocent?  I certainly hoped so.

        “Ky-Ty.” 

        “Oh my, that is terrible!  Why would someone want to kill him?”

        “I don’t know,” I lied.  “Whoever did it deserves to die though.”

        “So you don’t have any idea who did it then?”

        “I have a lead that I am following, but I am not sure about it.”

        Chayna grabbed a ladle and began dishing out the stew into small clay bowls.  She handed me a bowl.  “Who do you think it was?”

        “You,” I said looking her right in the eye. 

        “How could you think such a thing? Where would you get such an idea?”

        “Yutu told me.”

        Chayna didn’t deny it.  She stood there, her lips drawn tightly together, as she tried to figure out what to say next. 

        “And your silence confirms it! How could you! You make me sick. Ky-Ty was our friend!”

       “I couldn’t do it myself, so I hired some thief to do it for me.  But I had to do it.  Vester would have killed me and Purutu if I hadn’t!”

       Still holding the bowl of stew in one hand, I raised the other hand and slapped Chayna across the face. 

       She dropped the bowl she was holding and put her hand up to her face.  Nearly in tears she said, “Can’t you see that Vester is the future?  Zarro is not the rightful ruler.  He doesn’t know what we need.  Vester will make this world a better place.  Ky-Ty had betrayed Vester and stolen what was rightfully his.  We had to get the map back.  Had to.”

       “How can speak such lies? I can’t fathom how you fell for his bullshit Chayna.  Vester is an evil, gutless pollywog who desires, above all else, control.  He doesn’t give a s**t about you or me.  Who is to say he won’t kill you once you turn me over to him? Not even you are safe!”

       “You don’t understand Lord Vester.  He loves Ashen-Sy.”

       “You are an embarrassment to our people.  You know how strict our society is.  By law, you should be dead for whatever hand you had in our friend’s horrible death.  Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you now where you stand?”

       “I am sorry,” she said, tears cascading down her pale, but cindered cheeks. 

       Before I could reply, I saw men in black pants and red shirts emerging from the back door.  They carried with them the mighty power-sword.  It generated a great deal of electricity and was impossible to defeat. 

      “Me too,” I cried pulling my sword from its sheath.  I was prepared to die fighting at least.

      “I did it for Little Pariapichiu. Vester promised he’d be returned to me if I turned you in.”

      “Little Pariapichiu is dead.  Your son died in one of Vester’s child labor camps.  After he was hurt here at home, I watched them take him away.  I followed them on horseback to make sure he was safe"to see if couldn’t find a way to help him and bring him home.  They didn’t take him to a hospital to heal"they forced him to work until he died.” 

      “No!” she cried, tears falling freely.

      “It was all for nothing!”

      Vester’s men rushed toward me, read to capture or kill me.  I had only one chance to win.  I had to be quicker then them and not let them touch me at all with the sword.  I managed to swiftly cut two of them down before they realized what had hit them.  They crumpled to the floor like ragdolls.  Quickly, I spun on one foot and swung at the remaining two men.  I made an undercut and slashed one of the men’s belly open and the other man’s leg open.  Blood spurted as they too crumpled to the ground.  I glanced at Chayna.  Her eyes were full of real pain.  She really believed that she’d been doing the right thing all along.  I knew I couldn’t kill her, so I hopped over the bodies and fled out of her door.  She didn’t come after me.