Steven Campbell - Suck My Cosmos

I stood there for a few minutes, sweating nervously.

“Hello?” I finally asked, my boredom overpowering my fear. If I was going to die, I didn’t want it to be of hunger. I should have gotten some food from that guy.

The door opened after some moments and I was dazzled by the light.

I stepped forward and was amazed. I was in the City Council chambers!

Sort of. I was at the bottom of it.

It was a room about four stories tall. Above me, it was divided into five main sections representing the Districts of Belvaille. Each had a raised area where the City Councilman sat. Underneath him were rows of chairs and tables filled by the most influential nobles of his District. There was one noticeably empty seat where a City Councilman should be. I felt very small and alone standing beneath all these people. I couldn’t exactly look up their skirts or anything, that was all covered of course.

There was a hole in the middle that separated them all and straight above me maybe twenty-five feet up sat the Governor himself! I mean, I was pretty sure it was him.

All the nobles, and City Councilmen, and the Governor, had a dozen dozen assistants running around. There were walkways going between the Districts and papers were handed and voices whispered. It seemed very chaotic, but because no one ran into each other or fell off and landed on me, I got the sense it was all rigorously structured.

I snapped out of my reverie when I heard my name.

“Hank and the issue of Ray’Ziel,” someone up there said.

“Yup? Hello?” I said.

But it seemed they forgot about me. They just went on exchanging notes and talking and buzzing about.

I was getting really hungry now that the initial shock of the situation had worn off, but then I heard the room go quiet and one of the City Councilmen spoke.

“Were you working for Ray’Ziel?” City Councilman Maris-To asked. Maris-To was the head of the Food District. I knew nothing about him other than he was the wealthiest person on Belvaille next to the Governor.

I immediately stood up straight. My normal instinct was to lie, but they didn’t drag me all the way in front of the City Council without knowing a thing or two about me.

“I was working for his wife, sir,” I said, my hands folded in front of me.

My neck hurt from looking up at such a sharp angle. I could see all the important people had monitors to view me. They didn’t have to look down.

“And what were you doing for his wife?” another Councilman asked.

I turned but didn’t see who said that. It was either the Manufacturing or Trade Councilman.

“I was watching her husband,” I said, facing the general direction of the speaker.

“Watching for what?” Maris-To asked.

I turned back around.

“Well—” I began, but I saw a messenger go from one of the nobles up to the Governor’s platform. That seemed like a big deal and I waited.

“Yes?” Maris-To prompted.

“Oh, I was looking to see if he was…unfaithful,” I said. I didn’t know what information they already had and I didn’t want to put myself in prison for lying.

“Unfaithful to what?” the Housing Councilman asked. Everyone knew of Onan Roan and he was the butt of many jokes in the System. He was the fattest Colmarian I had ever seen. He wore yellow and it looked like a miniature star was rising over his District’s seating area.

“To his wife,” one of the Councilmen behind me said, annoyed.

“Is this true?” Maris-To asked.

I spun back. I was getting dizzy.

“Yes, sir.”

There were a lot of mumbles and grumbles and a half-dozen messengers all scurried between the Districts passing papers.

“And you were paid to do this?” I’m pretty sure the Trade Councilman asked.

“I didn’t do it for free,” I blurted, and immediately regretted being sarcastic.

Fortunately, there were a few chuckles.

“Hank,” I heard a creaky voice say.

I looked straight up and saw it was the Governor, Vorrin-Gortail, speaking.

He had been elected just last year in a very contentious race with Maris-To. He was from the Trade District. He was an elderly man with not a wisp of hair left. He wore an old-fashioned suit and he wore it well. You could see he was a powerful person despite his diminutive form.

“Yes, sir,” I squeaked.

“It is our understanding you have been on Belvaille for quite some time. Centuries,” he said.

It suddenly struck me that I had been on this station not only longer than everyone in this room, but likely several hundred years longer. That was pretty annoying. Here I was, staring up at the bottoms of their shoes and they were practically newcomers to my city.

Then again, I didn’t command billions of miners or own the rights to farm a hundred planets.

“That is correct, sir. Your Governorship,” I amended, not knowing the protocol. “I have resided here since Belvaille was in the state of Ginland. There are a handful of people who have lived here longer but they’re dying off.”

“You seem remarkably spry,” he said.

“I’m a mutant, sir.”

There were more mumbles and muttering and talking and notes passed.

“Belvaille wasn’t as orderly as it is today. Is that correct?” Onan Roan asked.

“That is correct.”

“Could you tell us some of what you did during those times?” Maris-To asked politely.

I looked around. Were they trying to get me to implicate myself? To detail my centuries of busting heads and gang wars and every other illegal activity? I mean, it wasn’t still illegal, right? The empire it took place in was gone.

Still, I couldn’t think of anything good that would come from airing my dirty laundry in front of the most influential people in the System.

“I wouldn’t want to waste the Council’s time,” I said humbly.

“Please,” the Governor prompted. Yet it felt like more than a casual request.

They poked and prodded as I spoke, asking me to clarify and back up and repeat. At first it was just the highlights, and I skipped the gory details, then I had to go back and make it chronological because I was losing track. It was clear these people were no dummies. They spotted any holes and fabrications. It must have gone on for hours because I had lost my voice at the end and I was terribly tired.

I left out tales of Garm, Delovoa, and the other lawbreakers I knew who were still alive. No reason to incriminate anyone else. I figured I gave them enough information to incarcerate me for the next 10,000 years.

“You have heard of what happened to our beloved colleague, Ray’Ziel,” Maris-To said.

“I was across the street when it happened,” I answered, practically jumping into my coffin with that admission.

Lots of murmurs.

“You see,” the Governor said, “we cannot go back to the way things were on Belvaille. The way things were in your past.”

“I didn’t do it! I swear!” I blurted. They had worn me out, but now that I sensed the hammer coming down, I got a shot of adrenaline.

They ignored me.

“We would like to hire you to find out the exact circumstances of City Councilman Ray’Ziel’s death,” Maris-To said.

“Huh?” I reasonably asked.

“Are you available? Your connections and experience in such matters, I think we can all agree, make you an excellent candidate. We must have stability in this System,” the Governor said.

Lots of murmurs of agreement.

I was so not prepared for this.

“Sure,” I shrugged. Not only was I not going to die, not going to jail, I had a job!

“You will coordinate and keep in contact with my office,” Maris-To said.

“Um. How much does it pay?” I asked.

“We have a fee schedule completed that needs your approval,” Maris-To stated.