Turning the Tables on Cheaters

Dora the Senior Master put her pen down yet again, she was tasked with writing Mia’s progress report for the year to send it off to a destination she will never see, to a person she had no idea about. This would be her 19^th report, of which she was unsure if her reports contained the required information or if they were of any use to the person on the other end receiving them. Like clockwork every year, she received a request for the update on Mia and a generous number of coins to cover her keep for another year.

Mia wasn’t like the other children brought to be trained in the balance of Planet S610. She was much younger that the others, brought here when she was only 5 months old baby. The other children delivered here are much older, aged 8 to 13 normally, orphans with no family to care for them. Most starving and glad to be here with regular meals and clean clothes and Masters to teach and care for them.

Mia was also different in the fact that, someone out there still knew of her existence.

Their home planet was volatile at best and need careful management to remain in place, it wasn’t a big planet or important but it was part of the solar system and if it self-destructed it would throw all the other important planets out of their perfect cycles. The Elite differed in opinion on what exactly what would happen if it did indeed explode but they all agreed it would change everything for the whole solar system & therefore a maintenance quarters and expensive works have been carried out. Every planet, seven in all, contributing to its funding and staffing. There were four Masters and at present thirteen trainees or children ranging from 8 to 20.

The maintenance of the planet wasn’t hard or even demanding, but it was necessary. Actually, it only took three trainees three hours a day to monitor all the valves on the three runs across the planet. But living so remotely the first Masters decided that all the Trainees should have an education with emphasis on medical knowledge and defending the planet if indeed it was ever attacked. So most of their time was spent teaching the trainees, which Dora found was what she enjoyed most.

When a trainee reached the age of ten and had completed the necessary level courses they began to receive an income. The income stepped up each year. When the turned eighteen they had the choice to stay on at PlanetS610 or they could choose to return to civilisation. Most Trainees stayed to earn enough money to make a start for themselves but eventually all the trainees choose to go back because they remembered their planets and life they had been born into, but it was a daunting journey. Mia though, had no memories of any other planet but this one. It weighed heavy on Dora that she could not prepare her for the wider world. Mia would have to go back, no question about it, this isn’t a life for anyone. Especially Mia, a bright, happy but fiery girl, she deserved a chance at so much more. A sigh escaped her lips, Mia had decided to stay on so far but her 20^th Birthday was coming up and not many stayed after that. Dora pushed it from her mind and put her focus back on the empty paper Infront of her. She need to have this done before the supply ship arrived in the morning, their only physical connection to the outside world.

Day 1

Planet Ziion

Rota slipped the papers into the sleeve of her gown, her mind roiling with what she had just read. She beckoned her closest friends Shimel & Lacy to come quick as they slipped out of her former Nanny, Elsbeth’s room. She had gone there for peace or to find some respite from her grief. Eslbeth was like a mother to her Rota, since her own mother hadn’t survived her birth. But Elsbeth passed away recently and then just this morning her Father King Levis had just been shot with a laser by an assassin. He was rushed to the Medi ward and she was waiting on news to see if he would survive.

She did not expect what she found in her nanny’s room, she was staring at the framed painting that always hung above Elsbeth’s dresser, it was familiar and soother her a little bit inside when she realised it wasn’t exactly the way she remembered it. She as a child had spent many hours staring at the foreign landscape, that was from her Nanny’s former planet. They had even played “eye spy” with the painting, she knew every paint brush stroke. But this was different, there was a royal crest added in the grass in just a shade lighter and in the clouds there were darker grey swirls than what had been there previously. As her focus drifted looking for more changes, she noticed that the swirls made words. She gasp, she could make out her name “Rota”. Her too friends worriedly hurried to her side. “What is it?” asked Shimel.

“This painting is different. . . I see my . . . name . . . Here.” She traced the word with her finger and there are more words, Rota’s finger traced out “peekaboo” and “find her” she closed her eyes and opened them again, yep certainly those words appeared again, then in the grass she noticed short strokes that made out “love Bet” That was what she called Elsbeth when she was little because she couldn’t pronounce her name properly.

It hit her then, there was a message left for her in this painting. She looked at the other words “peekaboo” and “find her” what did they mean . . . Peekaboo was a kids game she hadn’t played in years and find her or find me? It didn’t make sense. Then a memory flashed of Elsbeth playing peekaboo with her when she was about 4. Elsbeth used to say “Peekaboo, I’m behind you” half a chocked laugh made it out of her mouth as the happy times and then sadness flooded her again. Behind, the word behind came back. She quickly glanced around the room. It was so clean and tidy like it always was, nowhere to hide anything in such a sparse furnished room. Her eyes glanced back to the painting. “Lacy, watch the door” Rota ordered and before she could re-think she grabbed the painting off the wall, she turned it over, there was something stuck to the back of the painting, like a big sticker or contact, she peeled it back carefully and a big fat envelope fell down making her jump.

She pressed the painting into Shimel’s hands and quickly picked up the letter, sliding her finger under the wax seal she pulled its contents out. The first page was addressed to her in Elsbeth’s own hand.

She quickly read the letter, now as she hurried walked down the hall her mind just flicking over the important words and phrases. Your birth . .. . . mother died . . . twins . . . sister . . . safe. . .find her.

The other pages looked more like fields reports and logs so she hurriedly put them back in the letter and made her escape. Her friends following loyally without asking questions. As she rounded the corner of the hall, she almost collided with 3 guards coming the other way, she didn’t really know their names but she knew that they would have been guarding her father if he wasn’t being operated on right now.    

“Have you heard anything” she questioned

They snapped to attention backs to the wall.

“No sorry, Princess Rota” one of the men informed her

She started up walking again absently heading towards her apartments.

She and her small entourage had just turned the corner into the next corridor when they heard running steps approaching from behind. Rota’s heart started racing as she thought of how an attempt had been made on her father’s life, could she also be at risk. She felt her frineds fall closer in behind her. She was again reminded how glad she was for their company.

The footsteps were getting closer.