Escape from the Planet Justice

by Mel-o-rama

* * *

dedicated to all my friends

who survived the Math Lab

and lived to tell the tale

* * *

Chapter 1

The Old Game

 

I should have seen it coming…

1.1

“Check,” said Darond as he confidently moved his knight.

Thomlin stared at the board in confusion.

“Really?  You’re throwing away a piece.”

“Go ahead.  Take my knight, and you’ll see what happens.”

Two brothers sat at a table playing the ancient game of chess.  They were identical twins in their mid-thirties, yet two entirely different people.  They sat in Thomlin’s apartment—a relatively small cubbyhole inside a large space station in orbit fifty-thousand kilometers above the planet Jasmine.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” asked Darond.

“I know you’ve got a trick up your sleeve, Ron.  I just have to be sure.”

Darond folded his arms and scoffed.  “You know what your problem is, Thom?  You never take chances.  You always have to know the outcome before you act.”

“It keeps me out of trouble.”

“It keeps you from living.  How do you think I got where I am now?  Taking chances!”

Unlike Thom, Darond was a Planet Dweller.  In fact, he was one of the richest men in the galaxy—the head of a major intergalactic corporation.

Thom answered, “We both know it’s because of Livvy!”

“You could have had her!  You saw her first, but who ended up marrying her?  You see?  Taking chances!”

“I didn’t want her.”

“She likes you better,” muttered Darond under his breath.

Thomlin thought, Why do you always have to shove it in my face?  He simply enjoyed being single.  He did have a girlfriend, but he kept her at arm’s length, as he saw what marriage was doing to his brother. 

Livvy was the one who owned the corporation and all the credits.  Before Darond met her, the company was failing, but then in only five years, he turned it into one of the most profitable enterprises in the galaxy.  The total worth was estimated to be several quintillion credits.  Darond made the corporation what it was today, but Livvy still held the papers.

She had a mean streak in her.  Knowing that her husband would never leave her, she always played the strangest games.  Her most recent ploy was to change her will, leaving everything to Thom.  This irritated Darond to no end, and Thom hated seeing his brother manipulated like this.

“Hello!  Why aren’t you taking my knight?” asked Darond.

“Because that’s exactly what you want me to do.”

“So?”

Thom reluctantly took the knight.  Ron immediately made his next move, saying, “Check” again.

Thom groaned, as he saw what was coming—a long sequence of more checks.  “Ouch.  Good move.”

“Thanks.  So much for your great defense.”  Darond laughed.

He was much better at the game.  After all, it was his chess set—an expensive artifact from Ancient Earth.  Only one in a million knew the game, so sets such as these were few and hard to come by.  

The pieces were made of solid diamond; the white pieces were of the crystal variety, and the black pieces were opaque.  They were intricately cut with no lack of detail.  The board—half a meter long on each side—was also diamond, combining the two types in alternate black and clear squares. 

Every weekend, the two brothers met at a different locale in the galaxy to play the game.  The trip was always at Darond’s expense.  It was his way of staying in touch and sharing his wealth with his brother.  As such, playing in Thom’s space station apartment was a rarity.

Suddenly, a high-pitched beeping alarm penetrated the room.

“What’s that?” asked Darond.

“Oh no!  Not now!  Don’t move!  The gravity’s going off again!”

It was too late.  A discarded chess piece went flying through the air.

“Catch it!” yelled Darond.

“I told you not to move!”

“It slipped!”

“Well, it’ll come down once they get the generator back on.”

Despite Thom’s warning, Darond lifted slowly out of his chair.

Thom shook his head.  “Darond!  Will you stop moving?”

“I’m not moving!”

“It looks like you’re moving to me!”

“What about my chess piece?” asked Darond.

“It’ll be fine.  It’s diamond!”

It was a real pain when the gravity generator went out, but Thom was used to it.  Inertia was key.  Everything stayed in place unless set in motion by some other force.  Thom learned to stay as still as possible until the gravity came back on.  It was never out for more than a minute.

Thomlin laughed at his brother.  The great and powerful tycoon can’t even stay in his seat.

Darond said, “It’s headed toward your window.  Won’t it scratch it?”

He had a point.  These heavy duty portholes were a luxury in space, and difficult to replace.  A scratch could lead to a micro fissure, which would mean an immediate mandatory evacuation of the apartment.  This happened to one of his friends, who had to stay out of his apartment for a whole month while they fixed it!  

Thom wanted to get up and stop the chess piece before it hit, but he couldn’t see a way to catch it without ending up on the ceiling.  He kept to his seat and cringed, hoping the gravity would come on before it hit.

“Really?” Darond said.  “Look at yourself.  Do I have to do everything for you?”  He pushed against the wall and sent himself in motion toward the chess piece.

“Darond!  Why did you…?”  Thom didn’t know what to say.  He was mortified, knowing what was about to happen.

Darond judged his trajectory well.  He caught the chess piece before it hit the window; and then he kept on going.  When the gravity came back on, Darond landed on Thomlin’s end table.  A lamp fell off the table and broke into a hundred pieces.  Darond rubbed his elbow.

Thom yelled, “I told you to hold still!  Look what you’ve done!”

“I just saved your precious window!”

“Doryth gave me that lamp!”

“I don’t see how you can live like this,” Darond said as he got up.

Okay—there it is.  Yes, brother—you’re rich and I’m not, Thom thought.  He said out loud, “As if I have a choice!  We didn’t have to play here today, you know.  We were supposed to be in the aviary at Gamma-17.  What’s so important that you have to show me here?”

“Oh, that?” said Darond.  “Let’s discuss that after the game.”

He moved a few pieces back into place on the board and they continued the game.

The game was of utmost importance, as it determined who got to take the board home.  Winner took all.  It went on for quite awhile.  Thom knew he was going to lose until something happened.  Ron ran out of steam!  There simply weren’t any checks left, no way to force a win, and Ron was still down a knight.

It was the moment Thom was waiting for.  The tides turned, and he came down hard on his opponent.  In frustration, Darond knocked over the pieces.

“I give up!  I should have won!”

“Ha!  The gravity messed you up, didn’t it?”

Darond laughed and offered his hand to shake.  “Good game, though!  You deserved the win.”

Thomlin smiled.  He may be a jerk, but at least he loses gracefully.

“That’s it,” said Ron.  “The chess set is yours.  Well, it’s getting late.  It’s time for me to go.”

He started to leave, but Thom stopped him.  “Wait a minute.  Weren’t you going to show me something?”

Darond, suddenly out of character, looked unsure of himself.  After an awkward pause, he said, “Perhaps later.”

“Oh, come on!” insisted Thom.  “We could have been at the aviary!  What do you want to show me?”

“Not here,” he answered, quieter than usual.

“What are you talking about?  You called me and you…”

Thom stopped because Darond motioned with his eyes, as if pointing to the wall.  Thom knew the look on his face.

He doesn’t want to be overheard!  There he goes again with his paranoia!

With his eyes, Darond pointed to the camera planted on the wall.  Always running, it never slept—always recording and sending data to the Central Computers—always protecting the galaxy from harm and crime.

For Darond, the camera was sometimes the enemy—the spoiler of fun.  Thom knew what he was thinking.

He wants to play the Old Game!

When they were young, they played it all the time.  It was really quite simple—switch identities, and see how many people you could fool.  They weren’t always successful, but they got away with some doozies.  As they got older, it was harder to play because more people knew them intimately.  Their last attempt was almost fifteen years ago, and it was quite disastrous.

Now he wants to play the Game as grown men?  He must be starved for excitement!

“Oh no!” said Thom.  “Don’t look at me like that…”

“Let’s go where we can talk,” interrupted Darond softly.

There was only one place in Thom’s apartment that didn’t have a camera, and that was the bathroom.

“You can’t be serious!” said Thom when he closed the bathroom door behind them.  “I know what you’re thinking and I’m surprised you think the Central Computers even care!”

“How do you know humans aren’t watching?”

“That would be against the law!  You’re being paranoid!”

Darond responded, “Look!  If we’re going to do this, we better do it right.  No witnesses!  Indisputable Evidence is our enemy.  Imagine the scandal that would arise if we’re caught!”

“It would give you publicity.”

“The wrong kind of publicity!  If anyone found out, what would they think of me?  Would you trust a playboy to run your corporation?”

Thom laughed.  “Well, then let’s not do this if you’re so worried.”

“I’m not worried!  We can do this!”

“But why do it?”

“Why not?” asked Ron.  “Don’t you want to taste the good life?”

“I’m already living the good life.”

Ron smirked.  “Living out here in space isn’t the good life!  You’ve got unreliable artificial gravity.  You’ve got no real sunlight.  You have to work a laborious boring job 30 hours a week.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault Planet Dwellers like you keep us out here.  Besides, what’s in it for you?”

“I just want a break.  That’s all,” answered Ron.

“Oh, I see.  Your good life isn’t so good for you, now.  Is it?”

“I’m on vacation this week, so this would be a perfect opportunity.  You know you want to do it!”

“I don’t know,” said Thom.  “This isn’t a good week for me.  I’m pretty busy, and I’m working on a big project.”

Ron shook his head.  “Who knows when I’ll be able to take off a whole week again?  This may be our only chance.”

“I’m sorry, but I just have to say no.” 

Ron looked frustrated.  

There he goes—getting mad at me because now I’m ruining his fun.  He hates when I do this.  He’s used to getting his way!

“Not even for old times’ sake?” asked Ron.

“No.  Look at us.  We’re grown men.”

“Oh, come on!  You’re the one who always wanted to do it when we were young!”

“That was different,” said Thom.  “It was fun when we were young.”

“It could be fun, now.  We’d have a blast!”

“Does your wife know you want to do this?”

Darond answered, “Of course not!  You know the rules.  No one can know: before, during, or after!”

Thom’s eyes went big as he asked, “What would happen if she tried to get a little frisky?”

“Oh!  Nothing’s going to happen!  Trust me!  She wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot pole these days!”

“You know her.  If she figured out it was me, she’d play along.  She might … well … you know …”

“Yes,” agreed Ron under his breath.  “She always did like you better.  But you know what?  If that happens, knock yourself out!”

“I couldn’t do that!” protested Thom.

“Believe me,” said Ron.  “She won’t even notice you.  She avoids me like the plague.  It’s not going to happen!”

“I don’t know how to act rich like you.  I don’t know how to run a quintillion-credit corporation.  What if I have to make important decisions?  I could cause an economic disaster affecting the entire galaxy!”

“I’m on vacation this week.  I’ve given the board explicit instructions not to bother me with even the minutest of details.  I’m telling you, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  You can live it up in luxury for a week, and then you can come back to this—what do you call it?  The good life?”

“What would you do here?” asked Thom.  “You don’t know anything about being a lab technician.  They’d see through you in no time.”

“I’ll call in sick.”

“For a whole week?” asked Thom.  “I don’t have that much sick time remaining!”

“I’ll fully compensate you for your troubles.  Believe me, this is a win-win situation for both of us.”

“Yes, I admit it would be fun, but it’s child’s play.  We have too many responsibilities.  There’s no reason to do this.”

“Do you want a reason?”  Darond sounded a little desperate.  “I’ll give you a reason—because you hate the Planet Dwellers!”

“Excuse me?”  Thom was taken by surprise.

“I hate them, too!  Don’t forget, I was born in space just like you.  We both learned to hate them and call them lazy snobs, but can’t you see what I’ve accomplished?  I married one of those stupid Planet Dwellers, and I took over her company.  I did what no lazy snob could do.  I turned a failing business into a thriving enterprise, and now I laugh in their faces!

“Every time I look at one of them, do you know what I think?  ‘You can’t hold this boy down!’  That’s what I say to myself.  They forget I used to be an Offworlder, but when they remember, you can see the shame in their eyes—as if they let one of us do what they couldn’t do themselves!”

Thom wondered where this was going.

“And now,” continued Ron, “I’m giving you this chance to do what I do.  You can stare proudly into the eyes of a Planet Dweller, and put him in his rightful place!  You can feel the exhilaration it provides.  Heck—you can even tell them to their face what losers they are, and what could they do to you?”

Thomlin considered this proposition more seriously.  He’s right!  I really do hate the Planet Dwellers.  If I live among them for a week, they’d never know the difference!  I’d be laughing at them the whole time!

“Come on,” said Ron.  “Can I count you in?  For once in your life, will you take a chance?”

Slowly, Thomlin found himself saying, “Yes.  Let’s do this, but on one condition.”

Excited, Ron answered, “Anything!  You name it and we can begin!”

“Doryth’s off limits!”

“Oh come on!” said Ron angrily.  “That was never a rule before!  You two aren’t even serious!”

“I want it to stay that way.  Send her the wrong signals, and it’ll be me who ends up marrying her.  You remember what happened the last time we played this game, don’t you?”

“Oh, that?  It was a tiny mistake.”

“She likes me too much, and she knows me too well,” said Thom.  “You say one word to her, and she’ll figure it out.  You can’t even let her see the birthmark on your leg.  If she knows what’s going on, she’ll tell someone and it’ll be game over.”

“How am I supposed to avoid her for a whole week?”

“You’re sick, remember?” answered Thom with a laugh.  “If you want to do this, it’s my only condition.  You can’t touch her.”

“Okay, whatever you say!  I’ll leave her alone!”

Thomlin laughed inside, realizing that as always, it was he who had finally caved into Darond’s wishes.  Over the next hour in the bathroom, they switched clothes and worked out all the fine details.  They went over names, routines, and stratagems to avoid being detected.

When they emerged from the bathroom, Thomlin was Darond, and Darond was Thomlin.  When Thomlin, as Darond, said goodbye to leave his own apartment, he picked up the chess set.

His brother said, “Darond!  Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Thom stopped himself.  Oh yeah!  “Thomlin” won the chess game, so he gets to keep the board.  I have to be more careful!  The cameras are watching.  Is this really going to work?  Look at how easily I almost messed up.  Just get me away from here and get me Planetside, and I should do fine.

He left the chess set behind and walked out the door, beginning the adventure that lay ahead.  Now he was Darond, and he was going to rule the week!

1.2

The space station Rollins BK-10 was roughly fifty kilometers long and two kilometers wide.  This behemoth housed 150,000 Offworlders.  With its inhabitants multiplying, they were always building and expanding the space station in both directions.  They never added width, so as to keep the probability of stray meteor strikes to a minimum.

The bottom of the space station always faced toward Jasmine’s sun.  The bottom housed the solar cells and the gravity generators.  There were no windows there, as the direct sunlight could blind the unprotected eye instantly.

There were hundreds of similar space stations in orbit around the planet Jasmine.

In the Original Days when the human race lived on only one planet, overpopulation had forced mankind to move into space.  With all the associated dangers—vacuum exposure, radiation, bombardment—it was decided to house the lower class in space.  Even when planet colonization had begun, the tradition had stuck.  Planet life would forever be only for the rich.

It never made sense to Thomlin, who had the benefit of witnessing both ways of life.  It always seemed that there was plenty of room for everyone to live on the planet surface.  What good did it do to keep all the less fortunate people in space?

As soon as Thomlin left his apartment as Darond, there was an old lady standing down the hall.  Thom did what he had seen his brother do thousands of times.  He waved with a big smile.

In return, she averted her eyes and kept her distance.

Nice to meet you too!  Thom said to himself, still holding on to his smile.

Turning around the corner, he saw his friend Sam coming.  He almost said, “Hi, Sam” but caught himself just in time.  Darond doesn’t know his name.  Thom simply smiled and waved.

Sam stopped in his tracks and sneered at him, as if saying, “Don’t even talk to me!”  Then he moved on, avoiding further eye contact.

Thom wanted to yell, “Sam!  It’s me - Thom!  Don’t you know your best friend?”

Then he realized, I’ve never seen Sam around Darond when I wasn’t around.  I had no idea he hates him so much.  Ha!  The truth comes out!  I put on different clothes, and now he hates my guts.  I guess it comes with being a Planet Dweller.  Serves them right!

He walked past a café where several people watched a news item on a holographic vid screen.  He saw the words “BREAKING NEWS” and a picture of Darond on the screen.  Thom considered watching the news item, but kept his distance instead.  What if Doryth is in there?  Or my boss?  They’d figure me out in no time.  I have to be careful at least until I get off of this station.

I already know what the headline is—“Flash!  Business Tycoon Takes Unprecedented Vacation!”  If they only knew the truth!

He stepped on a moving sidewalk.  He passed several stationary people, who all gave him the same hostile treatment.  

The moving sidewalk came to a hub and Thom stepped off.  He walked up an incline to a small unmanned cab waiting patiently for him.  Once he sat down, he pushed a button marked “SPACEPORT," and the cab began to move.  It accelerated up a track until it met up with the Highway.

Along with other cabs, Thom zoomed several kilometers to his final destination.  Once there, the cab slowed down, went down a smaller track, and came to a stop.

Leaving the cab, Thom walked to a crowded gate.  The Spaceport was mostly occupied with Planet Dwellers, as the Offworlders seldom had reason to leave their home station.  Much to Thom’s surprise, the Planet Dwellers were just as cold to him as were the Offworlders.

Wow!  Does everyone hate Darond this much?  I had no idea!  It must come with being a tycoon.  I can’t believe how jealous they are!

One woman, a Planet Dweller, walked up to him, spat on his shoe and said with much contempt, “I hope you rot in hell!”

Thomlin stopped and stared at her as she quickly walked away.  She was quite attractive except for the spittle coming out of her mouth and her hate-contorted face.

I need to get out of here.  This place is crazy!  Is this what Darond has to put up with all the time?  Now I see why he wants a vacation.

He walked as fast as he could without running to the nearest dispatch console.  Once there, he touched a screen to activate it.

A metallic voice instructed, “PLEASE PLACE YOUR HAND INSIDE THE SCANNER AND STATE YOUR NAME.”

Thom placed his hand into an opening and said confidently, “Darond Hywater.”

He held his hand still as the scan took place.  It seemed to take longer than usual, but Thom kept his cool.  He remembered what his brother had told him in the bathroom.

“The DNA scan will be the ultimate test.  If that fails, then we might as well call the whole thing off.  We’re identical twins, so we have nearly identical DNA.  The scanners allow for slight fluctuations from the scans on file, and hopefully the differences between our DNA will be within their tolerance.  Just don’t get nervous.  Don’t do anything to tip the differences beyond the tolerance.  Believe that you’re Darond, and the computer will too.”

Thomlin laughed to himself.

Yeah, right!  Everyone hates me now!  What’s this computer going to do if it thinks I’m you, Darond?  Shock my hand?

Thom fought the urge to take his hand out of the opening, telling himself, If this doesn’t work, what’s the worst that’s going to happen?  It’s not like they’re going to send us off to the planet Justice!

Just relax—sure we’re trying to trick Indisputable Evidence.  If we get caught now, no one will ever know the difference.  I would just go back and tell Darond it didn’t work.

The screen flashed green and the metallic voice said, “HELLO, DAROND.  PLEASE INSERT YOUR ID CARD AND STATE YOUR DESTINATION.”

Thomlin cheered inside, realizing it worked.  He was now officially Darond Hywater.

He inserted his brother’s ID card and said, “Valens on the planet Gaea.”

The screen flashed “2500 CREDITS” to indicate the price of the trip, and the voice said, “PLEASE FOLLOW THE GREEN ARROWS TO DOCK NUMBER SIXTEEN.”

Green arrows appeared on the floor and moved forward.  Other arrows of different colors moved across the floor in front of other people who followed them religiously.

Look at us, Thom thought as he followed his own green arrows.  We do exactly as we’re told.  Go this way.  Go that way.  Do this.  Do that.  Give us a direction, and we’ll go.  Of course I know where Dock Number Sixteen is, and I don’t need any green arrows to tell me which way to go.

He deviated slightly from his course, and the green arrows caught up to his feet, showing him how to get back on track.  Thomlin was grateful for one thing, though.  In this part of the spaceport, everyone was too busy following the arrows to pay him much attention.

His arrows led him to a warp shuttle waiting at Dock Sixteen.  He entered the shuttle, sat in the lone chair, and the door shut automatically behind him.  When Thomlin secured his seat belt, the ship started to move.

Slowly it moved through the dock until it left the station.  Gravity failed once he passed the threshold into space.  The engines kicked in and took the ship farther out, away from the station.

Other warp shuttles were coming and going, blinking in and out of sight.  It was all clockwork controlled by the Central Computers, which ensured safe passage to their destinations.

Words appeared on the screen in front of Thom.  “DESTINATION: GAEA—VALENS”.

The shuttle controls were below the screen, safely guarded by a flat plastic covering.  Most people didn’t know how to use the controls, but Thomlin did.  His brother had taught him.

It took a few minutes for the shuttle to get in position, and then the warp engines powered up.  In thirty seconds, he would be hundreds of light years away in orbit around his brother’s planet.

This was Thomlin’s favorite part.  The engines would get louder.  Space would bend around him, and then he would be catapulted forward.  However, twenty seconds into the warp, an alarm sounded, and the engines powered down.  The screen flashed on and off the words: “PROXIMITY ALERT”.

A renegade shuttle crossed in front of him.  It flew perpendicular to many of the other shuttles’ path.  Thom knew that the other shuttles were powering down as well.

“Stupid yahoo!” he yelled as if the person in the other shuttle could hear him.  

It wasn’t too hard to get to the manual controls, if you knew where the button was.  It was hidden underneath the plastic cover to the front and a little to the left.  Hardly anyone knew it was there.

Thom had to watch what happened, but he didn’t want to.  During the last ten seconds before warp, the process was unstoppable.  Thom’s engines powered down just in time, but if only one other ship was too far along the process, their warp field would tear apart this errant shuttle.  Thom had seen it happen before.

He relaxed only when the renegade shuttle safely disappeared—off to its next destination.

“I hope you don’t end up inside a planet!  Stupid idiot!” yelled Thom.

A few minutes elapsed before Thom’s shuttle began to move again.  Evidently it took a while for the Central Computers to recalculate the path.  Thom sighed, ready to get on with his adventure.

When the warp engines powered up again, Thom noticed the changed destination on the screen before him.  It now said, “NIOBE—QUARN”.

“Change destination!” he ordered the computer.

Nothing happened beside the warp engines getting louder.

“Computer!  Change destination!  I’m supposed to go to Valens on Gaea!”

Still, there was no reaction from the computer or the ship.

“Come on!  Why are you ignoring me?  Did you short out?  Did that idiot confuse you?”

He reached under the flat piece of plastic and found the manual override button.  He pressed it, but nothing happened.

“What’s going on, computer?  You can’t override the manual override!”

Of course, Thom knew things would work out in the end.  When he got to Niobe, he’d be forced to dock.  Eventually he’d get to Gaea, but then he’d have to lodge a complaint and argue with someone until things got settled.  He didn’t want to go through the whole hassle.  He’d rather settle it before the warp happened.

He looked at the ABORT button to the right of the plastic covering.  Pressing it would shut everything down and it was meant to be used only in emergencies.  “I’m not going to Niobe!” he yelled as he pushed the button.

Again, nothing happened, and for the first time, Thom feared for his life.

Something is seriously wrong.  Manual override and the ABORT buttons aren’t working?  What else isn’t working?

There were only fifteen seconds to warp, which meant only five seconds left to do something before it was too late to stop it.

Thom pushed the communications button.  “Help!” he yelled.  “This ship is malfunctioning!  Please stop it now!  I don’t want to blow up!”

He heard nothing but static coming from the other side.

“This is just great!” he said as the last ten seconds began.  Space bent before him—beckoning him to move forward.  Time came to a standstill as he flickered out of existence.  He grasped his seat, wondering if he was going to survive the trip.

And then there was a sudden moment of clarity.  The events that had transpired in the past couple of hours suddenly came together to paint a terrible picture.  Why did everyone hate Darond?  Why did that woman spit on his shoe?  What did the newsflash say about Darond?  Why did his shuttle malfunction?  Why was Darond so overly eager to switch identities?

As a planet—the wrong planet—came into view, Thomlin realized that there was no malfunction.  This was all intentional.  Darond was in a lot of trouble, and they were coming after him.  He knew they were coming!

The Galactic Republic had his ship now, and they were in control.

They’re after me!  They think I’m Darond!  What did he do?  What am I going to do?

The ship quickly descended into the atmosphere as a force field protected Thom’s ship from the heat.

Don’t panic!  All I have to do is let them know I’m really Thomlin, and I should be okay.  Just give them a little doubt, and they’ll have to check it out before they take me away.

With the spaceport in sight, he tried communications again.  Calmly, he said, “Hello.  There’s been a mistake.  I’m not Darond.  I’m his twin brother Thomlin.  You’ve got the wrong guy.”

Again, there was nothing but static coming from the other end.  He laughed to himself, hoping beyond hope that he was being a little too paranoid.  I wonder if they think I’m crazy—blabbing something about having the wrong guy!  Are they having a good laugh?  This will end our Game, but you know what?  I don’t care!  I’m scared!

Thom had no idea what was on the planet Niobe.  They had never gone there on one of their chess trips.  It looked like most any other planet.  It was not a tourist attraction.  That was certain.  That meant it was either industrial or it had a governmental function.

At least a dozen armed men guarded a specific port.  When the shuttle came to a stop, all those men had their weapons pointed at Thom.

This is just plain stupid!  What do they expect me to do?  Run away?

He tried communications once more.  “Come on, guys!  I’m not Darond!”

“You told the DNA scanner you were Darond,” said a voice inside his head.  “You provided positive identification.  You used his card, and you stated his name, and your DNA matched.”

I was so stupid!  This was a trap, and I fell for it!  I should have seen it coming!

The shuttle door opened even though Thom pushed no button to open it.

“Oh no!” he yelled outside.  “I’m not coming out!”

He barely got to finish his sentence when the floor of the shuttle became electrified.  Thom screamed in pain from the arc of electricity flowing through his body.  Instinctively, he ran through the open door as fast as he could.

He didn’t get far.  Once he passed through the door, everything went dark.

 

Continue to Chapter 2