Chapter 6:

Sing Him A Song Maybe?

An Ode to the Stars

The evening hung heavy in the Pepper household. Dorian could not help but pace around the kitchen as the time of the Council meeting drew nearer. His Mother had already left with strict orders not to follow. Orders which he tried to listen to, for about five minutes. Every cell in his body was calling on him to follow her out the door and plead his case himself. He knew the folly in that. Most of the Council saw him as somewhere between a mid sized nuisance and an actual danger to society. Being reasonable would never work.

Avery’s plan would.

He checked his rucksack again. Torch, a jacket, leather gloves, rubber boots and a pair of pliers. He still didn’t feel right about breaking in, but he really couldn’t see any other way. If this had been one of his regular flights of fancy, exile would have been fine. There are plenty of other hamlets on Lugus. While all of them maintained a high degree of Luddite sensibility, Dorian knew that veterans from his grandfather’s Union service lived a few days’ walk away. His name still carried weight.

The plan was going to work, wasn't it?

Of course It was. His best friend was going to come through for him. He would clear his name and that would be that. Dorian would have liked to tell himself that he would not get into a situation like this again. What was the point of being young if you weren't going to live, though? Besides, if anybody was going to bail him out, it would be his Mum.

Still, with no one around, a bout of worry came to rest on his chest. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” He made his way up to his bedroom and pulled open his dresser drawer. Even though there was nobody in the house, he still did a double take to check nobody was spying on him. Removing the bottom of the drawer, he looked to see if no one was around a second time and took out a small silver disk.

He ran his thumb across the single button. The device felt heavy in his hand despite it being tiny. He couldn't remember the last time he got it out, much less used it. Most of the time, it was too painful, but Dorian thought that if there was ever a time he needed cheering up, this was it.

He pressed the button.

A blue light shot out before reforming into an image. Age had withered the device. The feed was constantly interrupted by small bursts of static. Dorian knew the image well, though. A thin yet well-built man with short salt and pepper hair and a bushy beard. A scar sat beside his left eye that looked like the tail of a shooting star. He sat looking agitated in a white and blue uniform adorned with medals. Dorian zoomed in on the man’s name tag and beamed with pride.

Fleet Commander, Aster Byron Pepper.

“Apollo’s golden exterior! Why do you make me do these things, girl?”

“Watch your language Dad! Dorian will see this! You don't want him to be repeating your sailor’s curses. It's his birthday. Say something nice, tell him a story, sing him a song, maybe? ”

Rowan, he’s two. By the time he's even old enough to understand what we're doing right now, I'll be dead. If you want to make good use of this time, we should just spend the next thirty minutes jingling keys.”

“He doesn’t mean that, baby boy. Mummy loves you and you’re my little superstar.” Rowan’s face was in view. Her silver blonde hair was tied back by a rainbow glitter scrunchie and the red cocktail dress she wore made her stand out against the crowds of officially dressed people in the background. Thankfully, they were in the next room so they couldn't hear his Grandfather's obscenities. “Dad, please?”

“Okay, okay…So one time, me and the officers went a bit overboard. Oh Stars, your Grandma won’t like this. See, there’s this brothel on Mars and-”

“Dad! Are you drunk?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”

Rowan attempted to wrestle the camera away from her father. A playful scuffle ensued. This part was Dorian's favourite in the recording. In the struggle, the camera darted around the room. Out of the window of the high-rise building this meeting was taking place in, Dorian saw it all. Vehicles flying in the air, thousands of them. All manner of people mingling together and many people that didn’t look like people at all.

“Give me the camera Rowan! Dorian is a man, and men need to know about these things!”

“He’s a baby!”

“Oh, I’ve seen him give the eye to Mayor Neeves’ girl when they get dropped off at nursery. That boy’s got the Pepper charm about him! Grandpa’s proud of you, Dori!”

“Stars above! Mum’s going to flip her lid when she sees this. I’m sorry Mum!”

The camera spun a second time to the opposite window. Brightly coloured signs advertised all sorts of things. Drinks, electronics, one of the billboards advertised something that required a lot of women's cleavage for some reason. Dorian watched the breasts jiggle up and down as father and daughter struggled for control of the camera. The tall silver and gold buildings bobbing up and down on the Union skyline.

“Just let me talk to my Grandson! The treaties being signed today. Who knows, this might be the last time I get to speak to my grandchild before I’m hung as a traitor. This is bloody ridiculous! Throwing away everything we've built because of their intolerance.”

Rowan’s voice became a lot weaker. “You’re not going to be hung, Dad, you just have to agr- I should have told them not to give you booze!”

“I'm never going to agree to it! What happened down there was inhumane. I suppose some people couldn't handle being part of such a big galactic community.”

“Dad, don’t do this now. They came for us. What choice did we have?”

“Rubbish! You know that's not true and even if it were, we have diplomats for these sorts of things! Voluntary withdrawal from the Union? It's a bloody embarrassment. You can dress it up however you like! Bloody savages.”

“Dad, I- I’m going to use the bathroom. Just…Sing Dorian a song, please?”

Mum left the room. Grandpa, alone in his chair, seemed like the most lonely thing in the world to Dorian. He had convictions and the charisma to achieve them, and was still squashed by people worth one tenth of him. Dorian had asked his Mother so many times what this conversation meant, but each time the excuse evolved. At first? You’re too young to understand. Then? It’s not important. Now? It’ll get you into too much trouble.

He hated the fact that the person who trusted him most was his grandfather, and he was dead.

“Dorian listen. Your mother is out of the room. Let me tell you this. Adults make terrible decisions and they make terrible decisions because they're too easily led. If you have a large enough group of people and enough of those people are wrong. They are right." The camera moved over to the window again, and this time, his grandfather zoomed in on the people below. A Human was talking freely to what looked like a humanoid bear. A sentient plant and a slender figure with pointy ears played one-on-one holoball together, and a swarm of giant blue bees played a lively tune with their wings.

A few of the people spotted him and yelled up. “Look! it’s a Captain!”

“Really, where?”

“Oh, my stars!”

Aster ignored them. Right now, this message was his only focus. “The world is better, bigger, brighter if you share it with people. Even if they can't be people of different species, find someone you love. If you find them, don't let go, because your world is about to get a lot smaller. I love you, Dori. Oh right, the song. Now your old Grandpa's gotta think of a shanty without any swear words in it. Bloody hell, I'm in enough trouble as it is!" He laughed heartily and paused for a minute before taking a breath and singing.

Oh, there was a little ship

and it sailed among the stars.

and the happy crew, they shouted,

“The universe is ours!”

For they sailed for the Union, to Venus and to Mars

Yes, they sailed upon the star filled, star filled sea.

They sailed upon the star filled sea!

And so they did find friendship

with every race and creed,

forever giving aid

wherever there was need.

To the lonely, they gave shelter