The cold, depressed life of North Onnotangu awoke for yet another day. People went about their daily tasks, all appointed to them by their benevolent dictatorial government. Yet, hidden away, the small band of pitiful children and their two new guests, also awoke.
Chase felt as though her body had been filled with cement. She slowly sat up and craned her head and rolled her shoulders. Around her were the other children and Shizue. Starmaster sat up against a far wall, sleeping with his chin nearly resting on his chest.
Getting to her feet, she walked over to him and nudged him with her foot. “Hey, wake up.”
“Huh! Wha...I was just resting my eyes.” He yawned and looked up at her. “What time is it?”
She looked at her watch. “Seven AM. Nice job keeping watch.”
“I know. It was just a long day yesterday. No harm, we weren’t raided.”
“Lucky us.” She stretched her body by bending her leg over her head, which made Starmaster cringe.
“Doesn’t that hurt?”
“A little. But it helps. I haven’t slept on asphalt in years, my body is screaming at me.”
He got up and attempted a few stretches himself, which were pitiful compared to her contortions. “So, you have any ideas on how we will get into the palace compound?”
“Not yet.”
Both stopped when they heard the rattle of the cookware. Shizue was up and preparing the rice pot for another day. She smiled at them. “Good morning, friends.”
Chase stopped tying herself in knots and approached. “Thanks for the shelter. Can we help?”
“Yes. Get water, there is a hose over there.”
Starmaster gallantly picked up the heavy pot and walked it over to the wall, where a hose stretched down from a hole that led to the streets.
Shizue took a metal coffee tin and scooped up rice out of a large cloth bag.
“Where do you get the food?” Chase asked.
Shizue grinned with fiendish delight. “We steal it from the palace.”
“The palace! You can get in there?”
With a chuckle, Shizue answered, “No. They have trucks that deliver food. What they use in the palace each week could feed half the population of Onnotangu for a month. They won’t miss a bag that gets stolen off the truck.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
Shizue nodded. “It would be. But a worker who helps haul the bags of rice knows me and is sympathetic to us. He can make a bag disappear with little notice. This will feed the children for at least two weeks.”
Starmaster hefted over the pot filled with water and set it on the makeshift grate over the pile of wood. He brushed his hands together and said, “Rice is hardly nutrition for growing children.”
“It is better than an empty belly. The kids gather some wild fruits and berries now and then. But I don’t let them wander too often.” She worked to get the fire started.
Chase had pity painted on her face. She said, “We will find a way to help. I promise.”
“Do what you can. But protecting the world is important. Your job must come first.”
Starmaster asked, “You don’t know a way we can get into the palace?”
Shizue stirred the rice in the water with a large wooden spoon. She gave Starmaster a comical laugh, “Sure, we take tours and have tea with the dear leader.”
Chase smiled at the sarcasm. “I know you aren’t spies or infiltrators. We need a way in. Do you have any ideas at all?”
Shizue was about to say something when she paused and dove into thought. “I may have something. Not sure if it will help you.”
“Anything.”
Shizue said, “My friend said that the palace has ordered a lot of fancy foods. He said that tomorrow night, the leader will host some kind of big party with all kinds of dignitaries. Not sure what for, but if I know our petulant dear leader, he will show something off, like a new atomic bomb, or some kind of special torture device for dissidents.”
Starmaster said, “That gives me an idea. If we can somehow get invited to this shindig, then we can get in right under their noses.”
Shizue laughed, “And how would two BADGE operatives get invited?”
Chase smiled. “Trust me, I have a special talent for getting into high-class parties. All I need is a computer with access to the internet.”
“Technology is highly restricted outside of the palace compound and a few aristocrats' homes. The internet is alien to almost everyone in North Onnotangu. I’m afraid you won’t be able to find anything helpful out here.”
Chase had a sneaky grin on her face. “Tell me, where is the nearest aristocrat’s mansion?”
***
A middle-aged woman walked through her lavish home, frowning the entire way. She scowled at an empty room, swore when she saw an empty kitchen and stormed down the stairs toward the wine cellar.
“WHERE IS EVERYONE!” She yelled.
A middle-aged man poked his head around the corner at the top of the stairs. “Sachi, what is the matter? And have you seen Nori?”
Sachi, the irate woman, looked around the filled wine cellar. “I can’t find any of the servants. No one has started dinner, the bathrooms haven’t been cleaned, and my gown for the party tomorrow needs to be ironed. Have you seen anyone around here, Kaneo?”
Kaneo said, “No. I was just looking for our driver. He is nowhere to be found.”
“I will send all of them to the nearest prison camp when I find them.” She stomped back up the stairs, grumbling the whole way. “I am going to the security box and will track all of them. They can’t evade us, and they know it!”
Kaneo stood out of her way as she passed. “Could there be a...did you hear that?”
Sachi stopped and looked toward the kitchen. “Yes. Someone is at the back door.”
“I hope it is Nori. I am supposed to meet with General Kaukatsu for golf in ten minutes.”
Both people entered the kitchen and came upon a sight that stopped them in their tracks. Chase
Sachi displayed no fear. “Do you know who we are?”
Kaneo had his cell phone out, but it was pinned to a wall by a thrown kitchen knife, destroying it. Chase answered, “You are Sachi Jong, cousin of Shoju Kahn, the despot who rules this little nation. And you are Kaneo Jong, her unfortunate husband. Nice place you have here.”
Sachi sneered at Chase. “You will spend the rest of your life in a prison camp.”
“I have other plans. Sorry about this.” With a twisting motion, she nailed Sachi in the face with her foot and sent the woman down. Kaneo had turned to run when she kicked him in the back and then slammed his forehead against a wall.
Flipping open a case attached to her suit, she pulled out two small devices and placed them on their foreheads. “Nova would kill me if he knew I had these. But what he doesn’t know won’t hurt me.” Dragging them to their bedrooms, she placed them like they were sleeping. The coma inducer would leave them unconscious for at least three days. “Glad I brought my old gear with me. Now, where is their computer?”
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