It Was A School Day - 7. Graduation Evacuation

There was only so much a man could take. Even a not-quite human man.

Mia proved to be a total pest. She showed up at his door at odd times, just as she always had; only now she was making inquiries about Kismet’s family – about his family. The final straw was the day he came back from his last exam and found her in his room going through his travel bag.

“What the hell?” he yelled as he slammed the door closed, trapping the two of them in the room.

She squeaked and dropped the papers she was holding.

“Why are you in here? In my things?”

“Who are you Valdorn? These make no sense.”

“They make perfect sense to me and are none of your business.” He didn’t try grabbing them, it wouldn’t do any good. She had already seen them. He could only hope she hadn’t understood the full implications of what she had read.

“Where are you going after graduation really?”

“Home.”

“And where is that?”

Valdorn took a deep breath and gave Kismet’s home address.

“That really is a little backwater province. No wonder you act the way you do,” she sneered.

“Put the papers back in the bag, Mia, and step away,” Valdorn warned her.

“Or what? You’ll hit me? A woman?” She laughed. “I’ll just tell them you tried to rape me.”

“It’s a really backwater province, Mia, there are certain rules of behavior. I can claim you as my wife. We’ve been in this room together long enough to have copulated and that’s all I have to swear before witnesses.” He could see the wheels turning in her mind and he grinned. “Of course anyone who married in such disgrace would lose any property or inheritance male or female, but they would be wed. Nothing worth having comes without penalty.”

“You are the second born son of a third rate government official, Valdorn, what would I care about you?”

“If I claim you as my wife, you couldn’t ever have Kismet as your husband, now could you? Such a disgrace it would be a young woman as yourself wed to a penniless government employee without so much as an appointment yet,” he tsked and shook his head. “What would your mother say about that?”

Her eyes went wide and she stared at him.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

He moved over closer to her, close enough to make her drop his belongings and take a step back.

“Oh I would dare. I would do more than dare. And then I would ask for the most remote posting on the rock the furthest away from any entertainment, away from any social events, and with the most children possible, perhaps an orphanage or something to occupy your time.” He moved closer with each threat until he had her backed around and nearly to the door. “Now I suggest that you run, Mia, run as fast as those spiked heels and mini skirt will allow and escape the future I have planned for you if you come near me or what is mine again.”

He pulled the door open and allowed her to bolt to freedom.

He didn’t see her again until they lined up for graduation. Just as a precaution, though, he verified everything was in his bag and started carrying it with him whenever he left his room.

Commencement went off without a hitch.

Several weeks before graduation, Valdorn had requested permission to pick up his diploma and transcripts due to his ‘special circumstances’. At the last minute, Kismet’s family requested permission to pick up his diploma. Valdorn had the paperwork which Kismet had left behind when he asked Valdorn to file it. The day after the commencement ceremony he arrived to pick them up.

“Let me see, Valdorn Trey deSebe. Ah, here it is. Oh, honors, congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Valdorn said and smiled at her. “Would you mind finding this one as well? His parents asked me to pick it up since I was coming down here anyway.”

Valdorn handed over the paperwork Kismet had signed. The woman looked at it, “Oh the paperwork was filed late. I have it, but it’s in a different location. If you could just give me a moment?”

“Of course.”

It took longer than a moment, but she came out with the diploma, wearing a smile.

“Another one with honors, his family must be very proud,” she said as she handed it over. “It was in the boxes to be shipped. I thought it might be. Luckily they’re still in alphabetical order.”

“Thank you. We are all very proud of him. I’m sure his mother will be pleased to have it.”

Valdorn waited until he left the office to place them in his bag. He never noticed the tracking device that had been placed in Kismet’s diploma cover.

Valdorn walked amid all the chaos of family, friends, and students who were preparing to go home to the nearest off campus bus stop, got on the next bus, and headed out of town. Following his preplanned route he stepped off a different bus at an airport over a hundred miles from campus. Paying in cash, he secured the tickets he would need to meet up with the Hanover’s. In a few hours he caught a commuter plane headed generally toward his final destination. His ticket was for three stops past where he planned on getting off.

Valdorn spent the last half hour sitting at a booth in a fast food restaurant located so that he could see the counter. He had no idea why the Hanover’s had picked this particular place to regroup if anything ever went wrong, but they did. Then again, it claimed to be the fastest fast food and was somewhat of a local landmark. Valdorn figured it wasn’t going anywhere and it was free to enter, which many people did just to gawk. He was nibbling his fries when he saw them. They went to the counter and in under two minutes walked away with food. Maggie spotted him first.

“Hey Val!”

Valdorn smiled up at her, then slid out of the booth to stand in the presence of the women.

“Glad to see you son,” Mr. Hanover said as he shook Valdorn’s hand, “now, where is our fifth?”

“I’m afraid she had family business to attend, Sir, and could not make our little trip.”

“Family business?”

“It was her mother, Mrs. Hanover, something about the breeding stock in backwater towns being inadequate for their purposes. I’m not quite sure what she was going on about. But, her father seemed to agree with much bellowing.”

“Well, the nerve of some people!”

Valdorn winked at Maggie, who giggled and echoed her mother, “Yes, the nerve!”

Mr. Hanover looked at Valdorn, “The plan has been set in motion. Four or five is not going to matter at this point. We have a plan to reach free space. Do you have a plan for after that?”

“I do, but I have a bit of a problem with Magitha,” Valdorn blushed a little. “One of the places we will have to travel through, well, a young woman may not travel unescorted by anyone except her husband, betrothed, or cousins.”

“But we are her parents.”

“The rights of the parent end once a person enters puberty. You would technically have no authority over her. If your parents would agree,” Valdorn blushed again, “I would accept your courtship.”

“Shouldn’t that be the other way around, son?” Mr. Hanover asked.

Magitha looked at her parents, then at Valdorn. “This will help us? I mean, it’s not that I don’t like you and all, but I don’t really know you that well. I want to get married eventually but how do I know you are the right one? Aren’t I a little young to be making this kind of decision about my future?”

Valdorn grinned. “A courtship isn’t a marriage contract. It can last for several weeks or even years. They are only binding in such a way that so long as you are courting me no one can touch you until we decide we are not compatible. Consider it a safety feature for both of us; because once I start accepting courters, no one can touch me either.”

“Well then, Valdorn deSebe, would you mind so much if I tried to make you my husband?” Maggie grinned at him over the bottle of ketchup she was trying to empty on her fries.

“I would not mind that at all Magitha Hanover,” he told her as he stole one of her ketchup-free fries.

“Well, since that’s settled, our flight leaves in about four hours. Do they have any reason to be looking for you Valdorn?”

“Nothing they can hold me for. Kismet made sure of that. The only thing I think he overlooked was a set of travel papers, but Uncle has approved a new set that bears his protection for everyone.”

“And this is important why?” Mr. Hanover probed.

“With the right paperwork you don’t have to stand in the lines at the ports, no questions, no fuss, no muss. Just breeze through. I have that paperwork, you don’t. Once Magitha is courting me, she has the right to that paperwork, as her family, it can be granted to you as well while you travel with me. It will make travelling easier.”

“Or make us stand out more,” Mrs. Hanover said.

Mr. Hanover chewed his burger thoughtfully. Finally he said, “I think the papers will make it more difficult for them to detain us.”

“Well, it’s decided then,” Mrs. Hanover said and began clearing up the table.

Valdorn took the tray to the trash for the table and left with the Hanover’s. He took a moment to tap a code into phone and send it to a predetermined number. Whomever Uncle had contacted would be waiting as per their instructions.

The Hanover’s took a rather wandering route toward the port itself. However, Maggie allowed him to take her hand as they walked. He hoped the family understood when he explained he would have to share a room with their daughter to pull off this whole charade. By the time they arrived it was much closer to their flight than Valdorn was comfortable with.

There were several entrances to the port, but they were numbered. Valdorn told the Hanover’s which door they had to enter. Then he followed the rest of the directions and located the area he was supposed to meet his contact, who was standing there with an official looking envelope. Valdorn released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“Cousin?” he addressed his countryman who turned around.

“Cous..” his eyes widened, “Third Cousin!” and he dropped to the ground.

Valdorn picked up the envelope and asked, “What is going on?”

“There were earth’s men, Third Cousin, they were asking questions.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I had a personal letter from my Uncle to deliver to his Nephew,” the cousin shook, “that is all.”

“Come along,” Valdorn told him. “You may hold my bag.”

Before he passed it over he reached in and took out his packet of papers and put them inside his shirt. Then he took the papers out of the envelope and looked them over.

“These will do. Which gate do we need to head toward?”

Mr. Hanover took the lead and the others followed for a bit.

“If everyone could hold up a moment, I need to change out your travel papers,” Valdorn told them.

Everyone exchanged them, and when he handed Maggie hers he showed her the extra page. “Do not lose this no matter what, it shows that we are family, if only temporarily.”

She nodded and tucked the papers away.

“Mr. Hanover, can you give our cousin one of the boarding passes please?”

Mr. Hanover didn’t question Valdorn, but he did give him a funny look as he passed the young Seberian one of the five boarding passes.

“Cousin, see that line over there?”

The youngster nodded.

“You will go stand in it. When your turn comes you will give them your papers and your pass, then you will join us on the ship. If anything goes wrong, contact Uncle. Understand?”

“Yes, Cousin,” he responded then moved off in the direction of the line, taking Valdorn’s bag with him. Valdorn hoped he would make it through the line with little trouble, but if not, the only thing he would miss in the bag was his physical diploma. He had at least thought to take out his packet of papers which had included his paper copy of his transcripts.

Then they started toward the gates again, only this time toward the VIP entrance where their royal emblazoned passports were barely glanced at by the bored looking government employee. They took their seats in the lounge and a young woman came around with wine glasses to offer to the adults. Valdorn took two, and handed one to Maggie.

“Here you go,” he said with a smile and a wink.

Maggie took it but wasn’t sure why he gave it to her, especially when it was clear she was not old enough to drink it. The serving girl didn’t think she was either.

“Excuse me, Miss, I’ll have that back,” she said as she attempted to take the glass from Maggie, who held onto it tightly and looked to Valdorn for explanation. Mr. and Mrs. Hanover were beginning to look nervous as well as their plan required they not draw attention to themselves, but this friend of Kismet’s seemed hell-bent on doing just the opposite.

“Do not touch her,” Valdorn growled and launched up out of the chair at the serving girl upsetting the tray she carried. Maggie dropped her wine on the floor and cried out and Valdorn turned to her to comfort her.

“Have a good cry,” he whispered, “the more hysterics the better right now.”

So she did.

Security came over and the waiting area manager. The serving girl was trying to pick up the wine glasses, one of which had broken. Another girl was helping her. Mr. and Mrs. Hanover had come over to comfort their daughter. Mrs. Hanover cooed, and Mr. Hanover glared, mostly at Valdorn.

“Is there a problem?” the manager asked, although there clearly was.

Valdorn pointed to the serving girl, “She insulted my wife.”

The manager looked at the girl cleaning up glass, “And how did she insult your wife?”

“She treated her like a child. Can you not see she is a woman?”

Maggie took a moment to look up, smile at Valdorn, then burst out in a loud sob again, burying her face in her mother’s bosom.

Valdorn sighed and shifted so his passport fell out of his pocket. He leaned over to pick it up making sure the crest was clearly visible for a long moment. “She is very… I thought the wine would settle her nerves.” He leaned in, “You know how breeding women are?”

The manager’s eyebrows shot up, but he nodded.

“I can see if your ship is ready to board, perhaps having her settled in her quarters would quiet her nerves?”

“You would do that?” Valdorn looked and sounded relieved.

“I have six girls,” the manager smiled, “I very much know how breeding women are.”

By the time Maggie had wiped her face and blew her nose they were being escorted to the ship. The line upgraded the inexpensive rooms, the only ones available on such a short notice Valdorn claimed, to a very nice suite, the line claimed just became available. Valdorn let the Hanover’s settle in while he went down and waited for his cousin to show up. He really hoped the youngster made it, but if not, then Uncle would make sure he was safe. They were getting ready to leave when he saw the youngster, still carrying his bag, being followed by two government officials and none other than Mia herself.

Valdorn headed back to the Hanover’s. This was going to be fun. He wondered how long it would take them to reach free space, and freedom.