Valor's Child (Valor's Children Book 1) Read online

  Valor's Child

  by Kal Spriggs

  Copyright 2016 Sutek Press

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Books by Kal Spriggs

  Kal’s Amazon Page

  The Shadow Space Chronicles

  The Fallen Race

  The Shattered Empire

  The Prodigal Emperor

  The Sacred Stars

  The Temple of Light

  Ghost Star*

  The Renegades

  Renegades: Origins

  Renegades: Out of the Cold

  Renegades: Out of Time

  Renegades: Royal Pains*

  The Star Portal Universe

  Fenris Unchained

  Odin’s Eye

  Jormungandr’s Venom*

  The Eoriel Saga

  Echo of the High Kings

  Wrath of the Usurper

  Fate of the Tyrant

  Heir to the Fallen Duke*

  *Forthcoming

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter One: My Parents Are Evil

  I lay awake atop my covers as I listened to my parent’s raised voices. I wasn’t sure if they figured I was asleep or if they just didn’t care if I heard at this point. For all I knew, they’d forgotten that I was even in the house.

  “I don’t know what to do with her, Wayne, I just don’t,” My mom said. She still had that tone of resentment that had set me off earlier. That had escalated into this, but somehow it just didn’t seem fair that she could raise her voice and I couldn’t.

  “It’s not like we have a lot of options,” my dad said. “I think most of this comes back to her application to Champion, right? You two did have an agreement.” I felt a surge of hope at his words. I wanted him to respect my decision, to support me. Granted, I chose to go behind their backs only after that last fight with my dad, so in part I’d done it to get back at him, too…

  “Don’t you dare take her side on this,” Mom said. Just like her, I thought, she doesn’t like what I’m doing so she tries to make it out like I’m the one who didn’t hold up her end of the bargain. I had… mostly. Well, admittedly, I’d promised to apply to the Archeological Institute and Nelson’s University as well, but it was hard enough filling out just the application to Champion Enterprises Internship… and they had requested that I make my application exclusive. They would have thrown my application out if they knew I had applied somewhere else.

  “She didn’t hold up her end of the bargain,” Mom said. “For that matter, she went behind my back—both our backs—when she filed the Champion Enterprises application. She forged my signature on the application, Wayne.”

  I winced at that. It was true enough. I knew she wouldn’t sign it and I knew that Dad would have wanted to talk it over with her before signing it. The two of them were almost a hive mind with how they managed Will and me. That was part of why I’d gotten so angry with both of them, they were too good, and it was almost sickeningly wholesome around the house. That hadn’t bothered me even a year ago, but it did now. I was nearly fourteen years old, which with the longer years here on Century, meant I was already seventeen in Earth Years. Back in more civilized places where they followed the Earth calendar, I would almost be considered an adult. I’m so sick of them treating me like a child, I thought, I made this decision myself and they should respect it.

  “I know,” I heard my dad sigh and that made me wince again. Dad was big on keeping your word and being honest. And I tried, but at the time it had seemed like my only option. I’d done almost everything else they had required of me. I’d taken the archeology classes like they asked, I’d done all the additional course work they wanted, I’d even stayed on top of the chores… well the ones I hadn’t traded with Will, anyway. And really, who cared if I traded allowance money for Will taking some of the worst chores? I didn’t have time to clean the bathrooms, I was doing all that extra work.

  A quiet voice inside of me reminded me that I’d still had time to hang out with Tony. I’d also had time to attend the Basalt Mesa Outpost school graduation dance. Come to think of it… I ambushed that quiet voice and shut it up where it wouldn’t gang up on me with my parents. I was the wronged party here and I refused to give in on this. I had earned that internship and I was not going to take it away from me.

  “Well…” I could hear my father hesitate, “You have to admit that she planned this out pretty well. She didn’t apply to the other schools and it is well past the deadlines. For that matter… it is a good position. Champion Enterprises does train their people well and they’ve got the best engineering school on Century.”

  “I don’t care,” her mom said. “She lied to us, Wayne. If we let her get away with that… then what lesson does she learn? That if she’s clever enough, she gets what she wants? Because I don’t think that’s right.” That wasn't what I think at all, I countered in my head, though I will admit that I did think it all through very well. There wasn't anything they could do, not without destroying my future and I knew they cared too much about me to do anything like that.

  “You’re right,” her father said. “She does need to come away from this with some lessons… and I think I have an idea.” I felt a sense of unease. I thought I had considered every option. The trimester school system had just wound to a close. I’d graduated my secondary school in the second trimester, which meant I had just over five months until the first trimester of university classes began. Normally, that gave kids my age a break before they started training in earnest for their careers. Some got temporary jobs, but most kids my age would spend the time either studying for their classes or enjoying the last break before they had to buckle down and attend university.

  Personally, I’d planned to spend most of my time studying. Champion Enterprises was the opportunity of a lifetime. Their employees made more money than almost anyone else on Century. Their boss, Leo Champion, was one of the primary shareholders in the Century Colony Charter. He owned something over thirty percent of the star system. Tony had earned an internship with their logistics department last year. He was still an intern, but he already made more than my dad did.

  “There’s always her grandmother,” Dad said, his voice oddly reasonable.

  “What, your mother?” I heard the incredulity in Mom’s voice. “Wayne, she’s a nice enough woman, but I doubt that Effy would really punish her… unless you think baking her cookies and gossiping about her other grandchildren would be punishment.”

  “No, June, I meant your mother.” My dad said it in that same smug tone of voice he used when he knew he was being devious, like when he beat me at cards or when he had figured out some archeologic puzzle.

  I sat up in bed and my moth
er and I spoke with the same voice, “You can’t be serious.”

  ***

  Dad had offered to fly us, but Mom had said that she needed to do it. I would have preferred to fly with Dad. He, at least, would have kept up a conversation to distract me. Mom just operated the settlement’s skimmer in silence.

  I wanted to talk at that point, to try to reason with her, but I knew it would just end up with another argument. Besides, setting in silence might give her the opportunity to realize what a mistake she and Dad had made. They couldn’t send me to live with the Admiral. For one thing, Mom only talked to her twice a year. Once on Christmas and once on Easter. It was pretty much the only times I’d ever seen them talk and even then, about half the time their conversations turned into drawn-out arguments. Sort of like our conversations, of late, I silently admitted. Mom never called her ‘mother’ or referred to her as anything other than ‘the Admiral.’ I’d taken to doing the same thing, mostly because I couldn’t very well call her Grandmother. That would be too weird if I tried to compare her to Grandma Effy. Grandma Effy baked delicious chocolate chip cookies and displayed pictures of her children and grandchildren. Grandma Effy ran the archeological department at Nelson's University. The Admiral… well, I really didn’t know what she did. Military stuff, I assumed.

  I didn’t really know much about Mom’s mother. Sure, I knew the history book stuff, she’d single-handedly saved Century and all that. Well, not really single-handedly, and really, some folks argued that we’d be better off as part of the Dalite Hegemony. Still, she did some heroic stuff. She was one of the oldest officers still in service in the Century Planetary Militia. She still served as a reserve commander of a unit, if I remembered right, and she also served as the commander for the Century Military Academy. Mom didn’t seem to find military service all that heroic or maybe she just didn’t want to live in her own mother’s shadow. Either way, she hadn’t had anything to do with the militia from the day that she graduated her secondary school. She’d gone into archeology, instead, which was why our family had ended up at Basalt Mesa Outpost, about as far from civilization as anyone could be on Century, which was saying a lot for a desert planet on the frontier of human space with a population just under a billion.

  It seemed dreadfully unfair to me that Mom was so critical about my desire to go into another field when she did the same thing. Still, I kept quiet. I could tell that Mom was conflicted about this whole plan that Dad had put forth. I had to hand it to him for being devious, but that didn’t mean I had to appreciate it. Oddly enough, it made Mom and I allies, both trying to figure out a way to avoid what was coming. Silence was my best gambit in that, I knew. If I gave her long enough to stew about it, she would see how ridiculous it was to send me to live with the Admiral.

  Mom managed the first hour in silence, before she finally spoke. “This is ridiculous,” she said, in an unwitting echo of my own thoughts. I waited, hopeful that she would turn around. She glanced over at me and shook her head. “You know, I think this would be easier if you didn’t remind me so much of her.” I blinked at that. I reminded Mom of the Admiral? That was an odd thought. “You’re too darned stubborn for your own good and once you take it into your head to do something there’s no stopping you.” She sighed, “I know you thought you were doing the right thing, Jiden, but this time you really went too far.”

  I kept stubbornly silent. I knew I’d crossed a line when I forged her signature. Still, it was her stupid “bargain” that drove me to it. That and the fight with Dad when he refused to sign it. At least my rebellion had paid off. I had been accepted to Champion Enterprises Internship Program. So what if I had broken her bargain? It wasn’t like she had made it so I could keep it, not and still be able to get the job I wanted with Champion Enterprises and to be with Tony. And as far as Dad… well I’d shown him, too.

  That part about Tony almost made me blush to admit… even to myself. We really weren't more than friends. Close friends. He hadn't even tried to kiss me or anything. Still, he had encouraged me to apply and he seemed excited when I let him know I was accepted. As if Mom could read my mind, she asked, “This is about that Tony kid, isn’t it?”

  I definitely didn’t want this conversation headed down that route. Mom and Dad thought Tony was a bad influence. Alright, so there was the time we skipped classes and went riding in his father’s skimmer, it wasn’t his fault that sandstorm came up and grounded us. Besides, the adults came along soon enough to pick us up, right after the storm. My mom glanced at me suspiciously and I could see her thinking about it. “Was it his idea to forge my signature?”

  I couldn’t help a retort at that, “You think I couldn’t think that up on my own? I’m not stupid, you know.” Still, I could privately admit that he had encouraged me to forge her signature. He had pretty much predicted how my parents would react about it all, too. Well, he’d said they wouldn’t know what to do so I’d get off basically without a hitch and he’d also assumed my dad would lose his temper. But I was secretly relieved that Dad had kept his calm and not even Tony could have predicted the Admiral.

  “I know you’re not stupid,” Mom said. I could recognize her tone of exaggerated patience. “But you are impulsive. It would be just like him to suggest something like that… especially since he doesn’t have to face the consequences. He’s nice and cozy out at Duncan City with Champion Enterprises.”

  I grimaced, but I couldn’t argue there. Century's capital was an awesome place, from what Tony and his father had told me. Lots of things to do, no water rationing, and I was sure Tony was living pretty comfortably. I hadn’t had a chance to call him, not with all privileges revoked by my parents. I was pretty sure what his response would be, though. I could almost see his confident smirk and him shaking his head and rolling his eyes at the injustice.

  My mom waited, almost as if she expected me to suddenly repent and blame it all on Tony. As if I’d do something like that. You didn’t turn on your friends, I knew. Finally she spoke, “Well... you have all your coursework?”

  I nodded. The embarrassment burned on that though. My parents had deactivated my net access. Which meant I had to get them to authorize me to download the preparation classes for the internship. They had only authorized that, which meant I couldn’t even update any of my friends on what had happened. I clenched my jaw in anger. That had been overboard, I thought, for all they knew, I could be dead or grounded and the worst part is that I couldn't get any sympathy from them over the unfairness of it all.

  “Well, depending on what the Admiral has planned, you should have plenty of time to do your coursework,” Mom said. I caught a tone of uncertainty in her voice though. I wished I’d been able to overhear the conversation between her and the Admiral. My brother, Will, was there, but he said it was pretty calm. Just a quick call, some pleasantries, and then Mom told the Admiral what had happened and asked if she’d be open to having me stay there for the five months until my internship started.

  I was pretty sure it would be awful. Tony and his whole family had poked fun at the Century Planetary Militia, with good reason. I mean, sure, they defended the planet and all that. But they also wore their funny tan and brown uniforms and their shiny black boots and followed such weird traditions. Tony’s dad had a hilarious impression of them that set us both just rolling with laughter. Granted, I hadn't understood most of it, but Tony's family and some of their friends seemed to think it was great.

  I was certain that the Admiral would be arrogant and tyrannical. I mean, Mom had done everything she could to get out from under her and basically didn’t talk to her; she had to be some kind of petty tyrant. Four months, twenty-two days, I thought, and then I can start my internship.

  We continued the rest of the flight in silence. Mom settled the skimmer on the edge of the airfield. I noticed a low black form of a ground car at the edge of the tarmac. Mom started the shutdown procedures on the skimmer and I listened to the turbines whine down. A moment later an older-looking fellow i
n a suit climbed out of the vehicle and walked towards us.

  Mom released her safety harness and stepped into the back and dropped the stairs. I grabbed my bags from the small cargo bay and followed her as she stepped down. To my surprise, she gave a big smile, “James, you’re looking good.” She stepped forward and gave the older man a big hug. “How’s things?”

  The man gave her a smile and returned the hug, “Not bad, miss. Hip gives me a bit of pain when we get a pressure change, but not bad.” He released her and stepped back to look her over, “You’re looking good, miss.”

  “Thanks, James. How is the Admiral?” Mom asked.

  “Busy, as usual,” James said. “This is the young miss?” He nodded at me. His behavior was peculiar and left me wondering what planet he came from.

  “Yes, this is my daughter, Jiden,” Mom said.

  “Well, it’s nice to not have to crane my neck looking up at someone for once,” James said good-naturedly. He was referring to the fact that my mom was tall, right at two meters. I got my dad’s height in my last growth spurt, but I had the feeling that I wouldn’t be getting any taller.

  I just gave him a nod.

  “Your bag, young miss?” he asked.

  Before I could do more than nod, he took it off my shoulder and led the way to the ground car. I was confused and glanced at my mother, but she just walked to the back of the ground car. Before she had arrived, James held the door open for her. Mom thanked him and got in. I was still confused, but I followed her. James shut the door behind us.

  As the ground car started up, my mom gave me a sharp look. She saw the confusion on my face. “James served with the Admiral in the war. He was her steward, now he looks after things at home.”

  “Ah,” I said. I hadn’t realized that the Admiral was loaded. I guess that made sense, though it seemed silly to have a servant. Tony’s family had robots and house automation to do things for them. Their skimmer was even an automated job, which was how Tony and I were able to slip away with it, neither of us knowing how to fly one, after all.