Chapter 5

I sat in his office, my hands cuffed in front of me. My feet didn’t reach the floor, the chair made for a more adult felon. The rather long walk to his office left me feeling numb. The security chief tried to ask me questions along the way, but I heard none of them. My mind blanked by fear, not for myself but for Jesse and, to a lesser extent, Riley’s well-being. Would… would they get found out without me? Would my brother get that dreaded collar wrapped around his neck? After finding out Riley wasn’t human, would he be relegated to maintenance duty or, worse yet, someone’s sex doll? I shuddered at it all. “Are you listening to me, boy?” Chief Dawson almost shouted at me. I jumped a bit in surprise, not really thinking he was yelling in my direction.

Security Chief Raymond Dawson, in some respects, absolutely terrified the shit out of me. A hulking mass of humanity, he stood at around six foot, eight inches tall and had arms the size of the fabled sequoias from Earth’s California region. His thighs were twice that – he no doubt could crush anything with either his massive thighs or his bare hands. But in other respects, Dawson was a pussycat. I knew he had four children – three boys and a newly born girl. He loved all his children and actually hated locking any of the station’s kids up, the ones with unfortunate circumstances. And he loathed the orphanage matron that forced all her charges to wear those infernal devices around their necks.

One of Dawson’s biggest flaws, in my opinion at least, is his deep sense of duty. While he has publicly voiced his opinion as a citizen of the station and not as the head of security in regards to how the orphanage is run and even somewhat against the station commander – those comments are bit more subtle. He can’t outright disobey orders but I’ve known him to actually be a fair man. I even have to admire his fierce loyalty to serve his fellow man, including his direct boss being the station’s commander.

I just don’t have to like it.

“Wh…What did you ask me?” I asked Dawson. Even if he acted like a cold, cruel security officer in the public eye, in the privacy of his office he seemed calm and relaxed. Even a bit genial. It seemed almost wrong given the size of the man, like he wanted to lull you in only to rip your head from your body given the slightest mistake.

“Travis, I hate seeing you in my office for theft-related charges,” Dawson sighed. “This is the fourth time I’ve had to arrest you.” He leaned back in his chair, the solid metal construction groaning at his mass of muscle. He eyed me a moment – I could feel it since I wasn’t looking at him. “Why aren’t you down on Kevin’s level?” I was a bit surprised that he mentioned Kevin – he never mentioned him before. I didn’t think he knew about him and his crew. Well, that’s a bit ignorant for me to say, but in any case I just assumed somehow he didn’t. Hearing him know about them made me balk a little.

“K-Kevin? Wh-Who’s Kevin?” I asked, feigning stupidity. He frowned.

“Don’t play dumb, Travis. I know all about the F level and the shenanigans that Kevin Renault and his merry band of teens did in order to secure themselves a home out away from prying eyes.” He shifted in his chair. “Quite frankly, as long as they don’t hamper normal station operation or endanger the welfare of others, I’m content to leave them alone. Most of my time and force is keeping thieves, such as you, from robbing the merchants blind.”

I glanced at him. “But… isn’t it against station policy to let kids like that wander around… unsupervised? With no adults?” I had to ask the question knowing Dawson was willingly violating at least one of the station’s policies. I didn’t want him to arrest any of them – far from it. I just had to point out the paradoxical absurdities.

Dawson leaned forward onto his desk, causing me to instinctively lean into the back of my chair. No matter how nice this man might be, he still scared me to death. “While that’s true, I’ve had no issues so far in dealing with Kevin. None of his kids have wound up dead and they keep to themselves. And…” He swallowed a bit as his face contorted. “It’s a hell of a lot better than becoming robot dogs to that… that wench!” His meaty fists slammed into the flat surface. I felt the waves of the blow ride up through my chair and into my very core. “I still can’t believe Commander Shelby authorized those damn collars to be used on the kids! It’s… it’s wrong!”

The collars. I swallowed at their mention. The infernal devices that seemed to choke the very life out of their wearer. Several years ago, before either Jesse or I were even born, both Commander Shelby and the head matron boarded and took their respective posts. Both of them were long friends but for some reason seemed to hate children of any kind, the matron more so than the commander. Why anyone would take a job that directly involves kids if they hate them is beyond me. I remember hearing once, before the collars came to be the norm, that each time a child bumped into the matron she scowled deeply and yelled profanities at them. Somewhere along the way one of the kids must’ve ran into her too hard, for the vicious idea leapt into her head during her third year running the orphanage.

A merchant that year came aboard from one of the Saturnian stations after a somewhat lengthy trip on a low-class shuttle. Some of their tech was different than ours, which helped to stimulate inter-station trades. On that trip, he ran into the matron as she complained bitterly about some child ruining her favorite dress. And the merchant, also not a fan of children, told her of a device that could quell their rambunctiousness and make them very pliable. That day she bought one and asked for the rights to have the replicator rights attached when our station got fitted with one – it would take a few years and quite a few hiccups to get it working the way it does today. The merchant agreed and hell filtered its way onto our station.

Eventually, the replicator was installed and immediately, with Shelby’s permission, she mass produced hundreds of those evil things. And started to fit them onto her kids, deviously saying that they were gifts from friends that they just missed and had left behind. Being none the wiser, all of her kids put them on and, with the flick of her wrist or a mere thought, she turned them all on. Immediately, all the kids slowed their playing, their running, whatever they were doing. They stood fully upright, eyes completely glazed over. Gleefully, she tested her control on her new slaves and instantly her command was obeyed. Soon, word spread around the station and a dark cloud fell upon all of us.

I shuddered at the memory of talking with one of kids that had joined with Kevin’s Krew for a time. He somehow tripped while the matron’s mind-slaves marched from the dining area for them back to their rooms all in two columns of twenty, like a regimented military drill. When he tripped, he damaged the collar and became free from the device’s control. His eyes cleared instantly, but he knew he had to play the part. But as soon as he could he ran. I happened to be down on Kevin’s level the day he told all of us the horrors of what the collars did to him.

“Never let them put that thing on you! Not even for a microsecond!” He shouted to all of us. I took a seat next to Julian and saw that he was captivated by the words coming from this speaker. “It was like being chained up inside my head while something else took over my body! I saw everything! I smelled everything! But I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop her…” He never elaborated beyond that, but it was enough to scare me. It also solidified my resolve to keep Jesse and I away from that bitch.

“Travis? Are you okay?” Dawson’s voice shook me from my memories. “Did I scare you a bit with my outburst?”

“A-A little, yeah,” I said slowly. “Just… just also remembering some stuff about those… things.”

Dawson grimaced. “They are a piece of work, aren’t they?” And then his eyes widened a bit. He probably struck on the same thought I just had. “Shit. This being your fourth offense… I have to put a collar on you. In the next twenty-four hours.”

“Th-That… sounds about right, if I-I recall station laws r-right.” I gulped.

Dawson stood up and paced, not saying a word. I could see the stress on his scowling face as he mulled over things in his head. It was one of the things I think he probably had to hate about being so loyal to his duty – disobey his commanding officer on station policy and punish me another way, or use a device on me that he absolutely loathes. Finally he stopped pacing and looked at me. “If you were one of my own and I faced this situation with any of my kids, I wouldn’t even blink. I’d find some other way to discipline you. But since you’re not, the decision is still hard to make. I don’t like seeing you being a thief, Travis, even if I probably understand why you’re doing it. But I also can’t condemn a rather decent kid to slavery all because of shitty circumstances!”

“Y-You do have twenty-four hours, right?” I asked, hoping I could at least delay the inevitable. “Can… can we wait as long as possible at least? Maybe…” I tried my best not to cry but facing my fate didn’t give me a choice. I was beyond scared. For me. For Jesse. For Riley. And for any of the other kids in my situation – I’ve run into a few rogue kids doing what I do for the same reasons. “M-Maybe get my br-brother and new friend u-up here so…” I swallowed. “So I can say… goodbye?”

Dawson’s chair smashed into the nearby bulkhead.

The metal actually seemed to shatter at the force Dawson put into heaving that monstrous chair. I jumped back in complete shock at the aggression just displayed. I chanced a glance at Dawson as his body literally quaked with vibrating energy. I could see his biceps and triceps flexing constantly, like they wanted to hop off the man’s arms and start kicking the room about all on their own.

“Is everything okay in…?” One of Dawson’s deputies entered the room and took stock of the situation. “Chief?” The man took a step back towards the door at seeing his boss livid.

“Everything’s… fine…” The chief seethed, his fists clenching and unclenching. I wasn’t really sure what triggered this outburst of outright liquid rage pumping through his veins, but being cuffed to the chair with a hulking mass of a man this angry couldn’t be good for my health. If I hadn’t been allowed a bathroom break before we sat down in his office, I’d have evacuated any and all orifices on my body just then. The deputy slunk away, just as terrified as me. With one final huff, I could literally see his muscles calm down and his fists opened.

“Get me Admiral Hanson!” the chief barked into his comm port after his fist pounded the button. “Priority one!”

“S-Sir,” the comm tech squawked. “The lines are all t-tied up with other–”

“I don’t care if you have to end a call between Commander Shelby and Santa Claus! I said get me Admiral Hanson! Now!”

“R-Right away sir!” the poor man said very quietly. “J-Just a moment. Priority one…?”

“Yes!” Dawson snapped. His foot impatiently tapped on the metal floor as he waited for his call to be placed. After a minute of waiting, the comm panel flickered in front of the man and a rather distinguished man wearing a lot of medals on his chest appeared.

“Ray? Is that you? How’re you doing, buddy?!” the admiral exclaimed. “I haven’t heard from you in quite some time! How’s the family doing?”

Dawson shot a glance at me before he regarded the high-ranking man. “It’s… it’s good to see you again, Uncle.” Uncle?! I mused. Dawson’s uncle is, if I’m not mistaken, the second-in-command to the entire Space Fleet! I recognized him a few moments after he started speaking. When I was still in class, one of the holo reels had him talking about one of the Fleet’s battles between the Earth-based humans with the Separatists, the group of humans opting to settle in stations around Neptune and beyond. Saturn marked the furthest the Fleet would normally go, with the planet Uranus and its orbit being neutral ground between the two factions. At one point, the two sides couldn’t agree to anything, but the last century showed that a tenuous peace between the ideals could be achieved. “My call is… business related.”

“Oh?” Hanson asked. “Is that why you had the line encoded for a priority one communique?”

Dawson nodded. “Afraid so. There’s a… situation developing on my space station that I think you might want to look into. The sooner the better.” Dawson then went on to explain all about the collars and how it seemed that Shelby seemed to run the station in an almost martial law-type of situation in regards to the unclaimed children of the station. He also touched a bit on me and what I’ve done. “You see, sir, the main reason I called is because, due to regulations set by Shelby himself, since this is Travis’s fourth offense he’ll be forced to be collared by the end of the day at twenty-three hundred hours!”

“Son,” the admiral said, looking sternly at me. “Can you tell me what all you’ve stolen over during the time you’ve been… unsupervised?”

“I-I don’t remember everything I’ve taken… but it’s only been food and the occasional bit of clothing. Nothing more than what I and my brother needed to survive.” My eyes drifted over to the chief. “There were quite a few days where neither of us had anything to eat.” With some resolve, I forced myself to look back at the admiral. “Sir, if I didn’t have to, I’d have never begun stealing in the first place! I-I just can’t allow myself or my brother to become… mindless zombies! Even if I’m a kid, don’t I have the right to life?!”

The admiral looked thoughtful. “That you do, son…” He leaned onto his desk, his mouth hidden behind his hands. Hanson turned to Dawson. “I’m superseding Shelby’s orders pending further review of this whole debacle. I think I smell at least one rat aboard that station.” Just then, Admiral Hanson lowered his voice and the chief leaned in, preventing me from hearing him. With a quick nod, Dawson leaned back. “Expect my arrival by the end of the month, perhaps sooner if I can secure one of the priority one shuttles out – Jupiter Station is a far jump from Mars. And Chief?”

“Sir?” Dawson said, almost snapping into rigid military posture. The admiral chuckled.

“Maybe you can find a way to incarcerate this… orphanage head. And start removing the collars from the other kids – when I arrive I’ll talk to Shelby personally and get to the bottom of this. Hanson out.” The holo screen dimmed and the image faded.

“Looks like you’re off the hook, Hartwell.” Dawson actually smiled at me. It seemed too… genuine.

“What’s… what’s so awesome that you’re smiling at me like that?” I asked, hesitant to trust the man. Sure, he just prevented me from getting a collar around my neck, but it almost seemed too easy.

“I’ll let you find out on your own.” A small card popped out of a slot on his desk. He handed it to me after he released me from the handcuffs. I rubbed my wrists a bit. “All I’ll say is swing by one of the credit dispensers with this. The PIN is the month and day of your birth in a four digit code. I suggest you change it to something else.”

“What is this?” I asked, looking down at the card. It was a rectangular piece of dense computer plastic. It even had my picture and name on it! “I-I’ve never actually seen anything like this before.”

“Just pop it in the machine, your picture facing up and enter the PIN when the machine asks for it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.” Dawson’s smile stayed bright. “Trust me on this one, kid. Now, with that I don’t expect to ever see you in my office ever again. Well, at least not with cuffs on. You got me?”

“Y-Yeah, I understand.” I really didn’t but I figured it might be good to pretend.

“Alright, go on and find your brother before he gets arrested for something.” Dawson made a shooing motion with his hands and I instantly obeyed. I didn’t need to see that anger directed at me. Ever.

I walked along the concourse, actually admiring the station for the first time in a long while. It felt rather odd for me to be doing that and not crawling through any ventilation shafts or even the occasional maintenance hatches to get where I needed. For some reason, with the threat of the collars taken care of things just seemed better. Brighter. Maybe it was all in my head. I shrugged it off and let my thoughts wander.

The first one immediately was Riley. It shocked me a bit given how short a time I’ve known the bot. He seemed like he’d be a good friend to have around. I really didn’t care that he wasn’t human. In fact, it almost made him seem unique. Special. And I still couldn’t get over the fact that he really had emotions and feelings just like me or Jesse or anyone else on board this station. Whoever programmed him had to have been one hell of a coder. I can’t think of any emotion that he hasn’t displayed yet. Oh, wait there was one.

Love.

Could he show affection and grow attached to certain people? Would he consider me and my brother friends? Maybe even Kevin and his group? I’d have to ask him when I head down to F level in a bit. First order of business: I had to see what was so special about this card Dawson gave me. I found one of the machines he told me about and doing as he told me, I slid the card into the device.

“Recognizing…” the mechanical voice spoke, slightly startling me. A green scanning beam shot out and swept over my body. Once it reached my feet, it spoke again. “Please input Personal Identification Number.” My what? Dawson never gave– oh wait, he did.

“Zero three one eight,” I recited.

“Authorized.” As soon as it said that, a wall shot out around me, sealing me inside. No one could see me nor could I see anyone. I also realized that sound from the outside faded out entirely. I imagined it was the same for me – no one would be able to hear me. Fear started to claw at me from the inside, thinking this was all some sort of complicated trap. But then another voice started speaking aloud, one I knew. Probably why all the security or something.

A digital projection of Admiral Hanson filled part of the space and began. “Welcome Mr. Hartwell. Before you are allowed to access your funds, there are a few things I need to cover with you.” Funds? What funds? Jesse and I don’t have any funds! “Firstly, I know what you’re thinking. Rest assured, this money actually does belong to your family. For, as of now, your parents are declared deceased in the eyes of the government. Before you fret, we’ll still actively search for them. But in order to release funds to you via their accounts, we have to submit the forms for the declaration. Don’t worry about them – Dawson and I will take care of them for you and your brother.”

“P-Pause recording!” Shit. They… They’re calling Mom and Dad dead? I know he told me not to freak, but… it’s a bit hard when they’re officially calling them dead! My breathing hitched up a few notches but I did what I could to control it. I refused to cry because he did say they’d still look for them. They better! “Res… Resume recording.”

“Now, second order of business. Since your parents are declared dead, I’ve ordered Chief Dawson to release your original quarters back into your control. I know you’re just a bit shy of turning fourteen Travis, but something tells me that you’ve got the mind for this. From what my nephew tells me, he’s seen you and your brother Jesse together and, given the fact that sometimes siblings fight, we both think you’ll be okay on your own.

“Lastly, there’s only one catch with all of this. You both need to get caught back up on your school work. I know it’ll be hard, given the time elapsed but I can assure you that if you both give it a solid effort, I’ll personally make sure that you both stay with your classes. This stipulation doesn’t force you back into the classroom if you don’t want to – personal tutors can be set up if you so desire. Talk to Dawson about that if you choose this route. Otherwise, your teacher will inform him of your choice to rejoin your class. Work hard and I think we’ll all see big things come from you both.

“Before I go... a personal request if you will. Very few people know about me being Ray’s uncle and I intend it to stay that way if you get my understanding – I think you will. I’ll now stop talking so you can see how much you’ve got, money-wise. I’ll see you again, Travis. Count on it.”

The hologram faded from sight and as he did the projection changed to show how much in credits I apparently had access to. A bunch of zeroes floated in front of me before finally an eight showed up in front of…. No. Fucking. Way.

I now had access to eight million credits!

I fell flat on my ass in total shock. How… how could that much money have been in my parents’ accounts?! I… I had no clue about this! We’ve never had anything too extravagant in our lives so I just assumed we had enough to get by. But maybe this money isn’t just from their accounts – maybe they had a life insurance policy on both of them in the event they wound up missing or… I just felt absolutely floored.

Jesse and I now had access to our original home! We could now eat every day! Jesse and I could buy new clothes! And I could definitely take in a stray robot. We wouldn’t have to even steal any longer just to make it to the next day. Relief flooded my body at that thought. I really hated stealing, even if it kept me and my brother alive. I vowed that I’d give at least a few extra credits’ worth to each merchant I ever stole from to pay my past debts. I felt it would ease my conscious a lot if I did that.

I took out several hundred credits, already in planning. First I’d want to get us set back up at home. That would be after I got Jesse and Riley from F level if they weren’t at our temporary quarters. I retrieved my money card and pocketed it all as best I could. I found myself in front of our temporary quarters and peeked inside. I saw no signs of life from within, so I decided to collect what few things we had and set the quarters for sterilization to start the moment I walked out. Might as well clean house and leave it sparkling fresh for real owners. The only thing worth saving was the food I made and it wasn’t much.

As I started towards F level, I ran into one of the other rogue children that I’ve seen before. I stopped him and gave him all of the food I had. I even told him if he had issues down the road to come and find me as I’d help him as best I could. He thanked me profusely, telling me he hadn’t eaten in nearly a week. Hearing that, I even gave him a hundred credits to hopefully last him for a little. Again he thanked me and ran off, carrying the rolls and the pot of stew I made into a nearby vent, vanishing from sight. It felt good to do a little of my own charity. The ball and chain I lugged around felt a little looser, a bit freer than it was.

The moment I arrived on F level, the hairs on my neck prickled up. I heard shouting coming from the cafeteria area down here and, once Kevin’s guards recognized me, I tore off towards the sounds. I rounded the corner and saw Zane and one of his more loyal guys squaring off against Julian and Jesse.

“Admit it you fucker!” Zane shouted. “I saw you steal those clothes from our storage area!”

“He didn’t steal them Zane!” Julian shouted back, throwing a protective arm in front of my brother. “Kevin said he could take two sets of clothes.”

“You’re lying! We don’t have the clothes to spare so Kevin wouldn’t agree to it! The sooner you admit you stole from us, the lesser your punishment will be!” Zane’s fist started to rise.

“You lay one finger on him and I swear to God Zane…” I stormed my way towards the group seeing two totally different reactions. Zane lowered his arm in slight shock and maybe a twinge of fear. His lackey seemed a bit hesitant at the turn of events. Both Julian and Jesse looked happy and relieved to see me.

“H…How did you…?” Zane asked. I ignored him and turned to my brother and friend.

“Hey bro. How are you…?” I trailed off the moment I saw the bruises on his arm. There were four of them on the tops of his arm, all of them close together and parallel to one another. I fumed. I immediately turned onto Zane. “How dare you grab my brother’s arm and inflict those bruises onto him! Where’s your fucking proof if he did steal something from you?!”

Zane’s face hardened. “Kevin told me that we don’t have the clothes to spare for anyone outside the Krew! I heard him tell your brat of a brother ‘no’ several times and he still stole from us!”

“Where’s Kevin in all of this?!” I demanded. “If he told you that, then why isn’t he here verifying what you’re saying?!” I wanted to punch Zane really hard but Julian stepped up next to me, ready to intervene if he needed to.

Zane looked a bit flustered. “H-He’s a very busy man you know! He can’t handle all the disputes, hence why I’m his second!”

“You know, right now I don’t even care about the clothes! Jesse, give them back. We don’t need them any longer. But I’ll be damned if you stand here and accuse my brother of theft with the basest of arguments in your favor! I wouldn’t even care if you were Admiral Hanson himself – without anything written down or Kevin here himself saying no, then whatever you say is meaningless to me! You’re arrogant, pompous, like to boss others around for your personal amusement, and just a jerk of a human being! If you happen to fall into an exposed hole in the hull, I’d help to push you out and watch your eyes pop out of your skull!” I turned to my brother. “Let’s go find Kevin and see who’s right here, okay?”

“B-But what about…?” Jesse asked, a little shaken up. He held up the clothes he had in his hand. I took them from him and threw them into Zane’s face purposefully. All three of us strolled away and towards Kevin’s office. I was a bit surprised when Zane and his cohort didn’t follow us.

“Where’s Riley?” I asked once I knew we were clear.

“He’s in Julian’s quarters,” Jesse said sullenly. “Julian had an external repair program that Riley thought might help him access some more of his memories.”

“Plus, I didn’t want Zane to see him.” My friend shook his head almost in disappointment. “He’s lying you know. Zane, that is. I was outside Kevin’s office when I sent Jesse in to ask him for the clothes. I don’t think Zane saw I was outside.”

“You shouldn’t have said that. I want to turn back around and punch him in the face and hopefully break his nose!” I huffed my anger out. “Does your arm hurt, bro?”

“N-Not really,” he said as he grabbed his injured arm to look at the bruises. “I didn’t think Zane grabbed me that hard. Now I see why you got all pissed off.” I heard him huff. “Now I want to punch him too. Jerk.” I laughed.

“That he is, brother. That he is.”