Hunter wasn’t so sure. This just didn’t seem to be the elderly pilot’s scene.
Word was moving quickly through the enormous flying nightclub that the winner of the Earth Race was in the house. Bottles of ‘cloud wine began arriving on their table at a rate of one a second.
But how did they get here? And why?
Hunter looked to his left to discover that the answer was sitting right next to him. He was a young man, maybe ten years less than Hunter. He was wearing a shiny black military uniform, not Space Forces or Solar Guards or Double X Corps. This uniform appeared to belong to a branch of the military all its own.
The person had popped in so quietly during their first few moments in the nightclub, they did not realize until now that he was sitting with them.
This person was looking back at them, grinning widely. It was Erx who recognized him first.
“By the Lord,” he said with a gasp, “you honor us with your presence, sir.”
Hunter looked over at Erx and then back at the man sitting next to him. Then it hit him. It was the Emperor’s son, the Prince. His name was S’Keem.
Hunter began babbling some flowering greeting — apparently a requirement when suddenly in the presence of a Special. But the Prince simply waved away his clumsy attempt.
“It is I who should be praising you,” he told Hunter. “What you just did in the race was awesome…”
Hunter mumbled a words of thanks, and that’s when he realized that their table was actually surrounded by huge armed guards wearing an approximation of the Prince’s unusual uniform. Apparently S’Keem never went anywhere without his private army.
Hunter looked over at Berx as if to say, What should I do? Berx made a quick motion to his lips. Talk to him — quick! was what he was trying to say.
Hunter turned back to the Prince. His face was handsome if still boyish. There was, however, a deviant twinkle in his eye.
“I’m very glad you enjoyed the race,” Hunter began stuttering. He was not good in situations like this.
How he wished Calandrx were here now!
“Enjoyed it?” the Prince replied, grabbing one of the dozens of bottles of ‘cloud wine on the table.
“There has never been anything like it ever before in the history of the race. Do you realize that the other contestants are now just crossing the finish line?”
To prove his point, the Prince snapped his fingers and a huge viz-screen appeared. Sure enough, they were instantly looking at the arena somewhere below. It showed the other twelve racers rocketing across the finish line, a series of wild streaks and the sound of electron beams being broken heralding their return. Some of the racers were smoking heavily. Others had had their elaborate color schemes distorted by the trio of transdimensional leaps.
The trouble was, few people were on hand to see them arrive. By the time the last racer crossed the finish line, the vast majority of the huge crowd had already left the building. In fact, in the background they could clearly see a brigade of robots beginning the postrace cleanup.
The Prince shook his head.
“Now, that’s sad, isn’t it?” he said with a cruel grin. The viz-screen vanished, and he turned back to Hunter. “I guess they just didn’t know what they were up against.”
Hunter shrugged, but in a very polite way.
The Prince finished off one bottle of wine and quickly opened another.
“What would your reply be if I asked you how you were able to win this race with a time of barely two seconds?” he asked Hunter directly.
Erx, Berx, and Hunter went straight up in their seats. They could almost hear Calandrx in their ears urging them: Don’t say a thing!
Yet Hunter could only wonder: What was the penalty for lying to the son of the man who ruled the Galaxy?
But before he could find out, the Prince drained his second bottle of wine — once again, no goblet, straight from the bottle — then reached for another.
“I realize that all winners strive to keep their secrets secret,” he said, slurring his words a bit now. “That has to be the history of this thing, I suppose.”
He grabbed another bottle of free wine, popped it open, and began guzzling it. Hunter sensed that some of the Imperial bodyguards were getting wary.
“But there’s no sense denying it,” the Prince went on, his voice getting louder, more rowdy. “At this moment, you are probably the most celebrated person on Earth — that’s a feeling I know well. Your notoriety, spreading throughout the entire Galaxy at great speed. You’re soon to be a hero, my friend; another sensation I have experienced.”
He took another massive gulp of ‘cloud.
“It’s that ‘prime domicile’ in Big Bright City that really makes me envy you,” he went on, the words coming a bit more difficult now. “I’m stuck way up in the sky! Can you imagine how boring that is?”
He drank some more; his slurring got worse.
“And soon you will be able to pick your rank and any assignment, anywhere in the Empire.” The Prince shook his head. “Soon many riches will be yours.”
Hunter just stared back at the kid. He’d never seen anyone get so drunk so quickly.
“Now, I know I can’t compete with all the booty my father’s realm can throw at you,” the Prince went on, struggling to pronounce every last syllable. “God knows I’ve had that shoved down my throat all my life.”
He slugged the bottle again.
“But besides bringing you up here, I have my own token of appreciation to give you,” he said, adding:
“And some things are better than a nice home or money.”
With that he made a gesture to one of his many bodyguards. Through the haze of the celebration now, Hunter saw this man glide over and have a whispered conversation with the Prince. The man then handed a small yellow device to the royal son, gave Hunter a friendly wink, and disappeared back into the crowd.
The Prince examined the lemon-size device for several moments. He was very interested in the series of numbers blinking in the tiny window at the top the gadget.
“Excellent! This is an Echo-323,” he proclaimed. A murmur went through everyone within earshot. Even Berx stopped consuming his mug of wine to listen in.
“Really, my Prince? A three-two-three? I thought they were impossible to acquire…”
The Prince waved the device in front of Berx’s face and pointed to the numbers.
“Have you forgotten that I am a man of many powers?” he asked Berx somewhat sternly.
But Berx was ignoring him. He was captivated by the device he held in his hand.
“Someone in here really likes you,” he said to Hunter.
The Prince took another huge gulp of wine, then turned back to Hunter himself.
“Have you ever seen an Echo-323?” he asked him with an Imperial air.
“How?” was all Hunter could reply. He had no idea what any of them were talking about.
The Prince finished his bottle, broke open another, and then pushed Hunter farther along the seat. This opened up a space big enough for another body. Then the Prince hit a button on the small device. The next thing Hunter knew, a beautiful female… projection was sitting next to him.
Hunter stared at her, mouth agape, a bit of sweat forming on his sunburned brow.
“Echo… this is Mr. Hunter,” the Prince said with a drunken laugh. “Mr. Hunter, this is Echo…”
Hunter went to shake her hand, but his appendages were slow in responding. Or at least some of them were. He couldn’t stop staring at her — and she was staring right back. Finally she took his hand in hers, and for an instant he thought he’d be able to pass his fingers right through it. But nothing could have been farther from the case. Her hand felt warm, soft… friendly.