Chapter Three

Chapter Three

      "The fact that the governing system of the Kemetic people, within one thousand years of the expansion from the planet Ma'at, had already evolved into the 'He of Five Names' to Nomarchy to planet to people paradigm is looked upon by some as a sign of a proto-democratic system at work. However, despite the fact that the Nomarchy was a representative government-- in its' unorganized and chaotic assemblage of political leaders, corporate interests and governmental factions-- it was a completely autocratic body that was in no way drawn from the population that it represented. Only in isolated incidents did what can be described as a democratic principle arise (even with the notable instance of House Hemet's greater interested parties nominating and electing the next member of the House to succeed the head position of the Nome that they oversaw considered). Much like what is taken for granted in out traditional political structure, the Kemetic people saw representative democracy as a hinderance to the enforcement of the greater will of the people, who were in essence rarely taken into consideration. When the monetary, political and resource-generated power available to the heads of the Houses of the Nomarchy, grandiose dreams that could never be conceived of in any benign fashion could easily become commonplace, and individual animosities left to decide the fate of trillions: thus the so-called "Family Wars."

Robert Bland, Department of History, Hammerhill College, New Cappadocia  

      The open engine compartment was like a gateway to a strange and mysterious world of tiny cities and glassy mechanical plains-- a regulator here resembling a multi-columned portico, a motivation accelerator there like a forest lit with many thousands of tiny lights. Some components physically moved across this vast landscape-in-miniature like people or carts, helping to complete the illusion. Hep stared down at it in aghast confusion, holding tools in his hands. I'm quite happy to not have to work on this, he confessed, crouching on the vibrating rear plastron of the Herit. Reddish tints danced within the powerful IES-Beams that shot blue from the engine of the small ship that was strapped down onto the deck, and spattered ineffectually against a large piece of ceramic armor that had been placed behind it. They revealed to his eye inefficiencies in the beam mechanics of this engine, deficiencies that even most competent mechanics could not notice- but thanks to a never-ending set of condescending remarks and overly-patient lectures from his Lord, he was quite aware of. 

      Nehisuankhani watched with interest from a balcony above the relatively smallish Herit, the only object in the hold. The ship made a little lurching movement as her brother, Rahotep, made some ineffectual adjustment that failed to catch. She could see him frown, looking up at the open engine compartment: his preferred posture for work was to hang from a cable attached to his feet over the work area. She found herself predicting the next series of adjustments that her brother would make on the engine: Adjust ISFRM, flatten SDM to prevent premature firing of safety mechanism, somehow modify RTT to take advantage of the reconfigured power curve…

  Dangling by his feet in front of Hep, Rahotep stared intently at the mechanical world inches below his head through a monocular vision enhancer. One hand was out against the outer shell-- stripped of much of it's armor to save weight-- of the Herit, while the other held a small and deadly-complicated looking tool against a component that resembled a towering block of playing cards. A minuscule adjustment-- most would not have seen his hand move-- instantly rewarded him with a shocking increase in the pitch of the sound of the engine as the Herit lurched foreword, straining against the locks and ties that kept it firmly attached to the deck-plates of the massive Matchabet super-freighter. 

      Hep crouched suddenly, almost dropping the armful of tools and equipment, and barely managed to grab onto an exposed armor mounting hard-point as the sudden increased power surged the sensation of gravity that he felt. His eyes widened in fear, but immediately he broke out into a crazy smile: He's done it, just when we thought that they'd explode, Rahotep has coaxed more power from the engines! 

      Rahotep hung in the air with a look of satisfaction on his face. Hep clung with a look of half-terror and half elation to the armor mount as the controllers rushed to deactivate the engines of the small ship. People in the hastily-added balcony applauded, while Rahotep's sister Nehisuankhani looked on in concern and perhaps a tint of jealousy. Suddenly Rahotep frowned: my brother is supposed to be here, he thought. He is supposed to be learning this. The engines made a final shuddering shriek like fingernails down slate and died, their silenced gravitational output making the deck-plates shudder and groan briefly as they recovered normalcy. Aufankh was holding the bulky remote switching box in a deactivated state as the Herit hit the deck with a dull metallic noise, falling but the width of a finger.

      Rahotep could now hear the people, laughing and shouted congratulations as Hep and then Aufankh leaned down and lifted him by the shoulders to an upright position. The cable attached to his footwear descended and was detached, leaving Rahotep standing on the dorsal skin of the Herit. "Where is my brother?" he shouted to Aufankh, who squinted his eyes: he could not hear well and the noise from the engines had not helped. Rahotep repeated it to Hep, still on the Herit, who only shrugged.

      Rahotep walked down the angled port nacelle of the Herit-- red and black, bulky and functional-looking-- and nimbly jumped down onto the deck of the hold. He looked about through the thick goggles perched over his hooked nose that he'd not removed, the straps tight against his black hair. "My congratulations," said Nehisuankhani in her alto voice as she came forward to meet him, her hands clasped together in the sleeves of her linen robe. She was a full head-height shorter than Rahotep, with the same straight black hair, narrow face and hooked nose characteristic of the Hemet family, and traditional hair-wings fanning back over her ears. But while Rahotep and his brother had inherited their fathers' slightly widely-spaced eyes, Nehisuankhani had the more narrow, piercing eyes and thin lips of their mother. "How did you adjust the Rotational Timer Tap to increase power levels like that?" she asked.

      Rahotep looked straight over her head and shrugged; she picked that component name randomly, he thought. There's no way that she could know what I did.  "You wouldn't understand," Rahotep mumbled towards her as he turned to look for his brother, an anger growing: His lack of responsibility still shocks me.

      Nehisuankhani moved again to intercept, her black cape a swinging contrast to her pleated white linen robe. "Of course, to adjust the Rotational Timer Tap like that, you'd need to simultaneously adjust the Input Stream Feed Regulation Matrix while it was on a curvature upswing and flat-line the Stream Density Matrix to prevent certain safety features from treating the power increase like a fatal error and shutting down the engines." She caught herself tracing the circuit outline in the air with one long finger and looked down at her hands in shock and quickly folded them back within the sleeves of her robe, feeling the knives there on her wrists. 

      Rahotep finally stopped in front of her and narrowed his eyes, looking down his nose at Nehisuankhani. "Let your father catch you talking like that again," he said towards the girl. He peeled the goggles off, a scowl on his narrow, dolichocephalic face. "You know that you're not supposed to be peaking around engines and ships. It is not something that someone of your station does." His sarcasm would not have been noticed by many, but Nehisuankhani was well aware of it. Rahotep popped his knuckles noisily. Aufankh walked toward them, still holding the control box. Hep strode away, shouting commands to the deck crew and maintenance personnel who were retying the Herit down.

      Sometimes, they look nearly identical, Aufankh thought, regarding the siblings, who were both wearing practiced blank expressions. "Hunen Rahotep," he began, but Nehisuankhani cut him off. 

      "My father?" she asked, a heavy emphasis on the word, yet still not raising her voice or moving. "Our father, as I recall, gave me leave to participate in this little race of yours as a learning experience." Nehisuankhani did not yet display any agitation. "And I am indeed learning." 

      "I don't think that he meant learn something about mechanical engineering, sister," said Rahotep dryly. Nehisuankhani opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off: "I imagine that this must be very impressive to you, the first time that you're off-system. But I don't find your presence very amusing. You should return to your chambers and practice your prayers or receive your adoration or whatever it is that your father taught you to do." Rahotep sidestepped her and started to proceed down a side corridor, deeper into the heart of the ship as if he was quite eager to be away from her. Aufankh followed him at a good clip, leaving Nehisuankhani standing in the huge cargo hold, looking back at her as if to express an apology that he thought better of making verbal. 

      Looking, Nehisuankhani saw that no one noticed that she was there, as usual: despite being a sister of that same celebrated Hunen her brother was, she simply was looked over, not even avoided. I am not actually here, she thought. Her escort was even chatting with another Hemet family guard, and in their red and black pieces of armor they looked almost identical, long blades at their sides, shorter weapons under their shoulders. Is it really because of my fathers' teaching, like he said?  

      Nehisuankhani stalked down the corridor, following her brother and Aufankh, but was stopped before she started by a pair of acolytes. Clad, as was she, in black capes and loose, linen-esque gowns, they nonetheless managed to present the air that they were somewhat less than she was; supplicants, perhaps, or that they were reverently approaching an object of worship. Her attitude towards them reinforced that latter position: she tilted her chin back and looked down her long nose at the pair, instantly shifting her attitude into one that mirrored that of her older brother. Their shaven heads dimly reflected the light from the cavernous hold in front of them as one of them spoke. 

      "Sister of God, you need to attend to your itinerary. Your presence as a priestess of Meretseger and of the Holy Cult..."

      Frowning, she walked after her brother, leaving the cavernous hold behind her and entering the sterile corridor. It was minutes before Nehisuankhani caught up with the two of them, as Rahotep was leaving a washroom after changing out of his working attire and reapplying the makeup of his rank. Neither noticed her presence- again.

      "Hunen Rahotep, once we drop out of FTL at the end of this leg of the voyage, it is imperative that you get that Herit out for burn-in testing," Aufankh said, using the traditional honorific that the next designated head of the House was styled as. Aufankh was sixty-one, tall and black-haired, from a cadet branch of the family four generations back, but his face was broad and more full than those more common to the main line of the Family. He had been the Chief-of-staff for Rahotep's Grandfather, and then his mother in turn, before being appointed by that matriarch to groom Rahotep to lead House Hemet. Despite feeling a natural protectiveness towards the man, he expressed only concern for the ship: House Hemet valued results, and this was Rahotep's first significant challenge. "If something was to go wrong with that ship, five years of research and development and billions of tenau will go down the drain in direct revenue. Our market share against Shu-Ani is a very tenuous eleven per cent versus their fifty-five, with current trends suggesting an increase: a loss at these trials could result in disaster."

      Nehisuankhani, who was not normally privy to this kind of information, smirked to herself: If they knew I was in earshot they'd walk in silence for a year before I was allowed to hear things like this. 

      Rahotep had already memorized the numbers and the forecasts and said as much, but privately, he could make little sense of them. Nearing thirty years old, Hunen Rahotep Hemet was a gifted mechanic and pilot, but Aufankh had some reservations about Rahotep's ability to utilize fully all the information at his command, to innovate. He'd been working with the Hunen for the last few years on logic, mathematics and history and the student was learning, but there was so much to know… And much more to overcome. 

      "We're still holding against Peh'reri and Thena," Rahotep confidently, yet quietly said as he strode down the corridor. He was not one to casually show emotion. Passing through an intersection that was the size of a large home, inside a ship the size of a large island, he continued. "Thena is at five, while Peh'reri holds three, but a solid eighty percent of the upscale market."  

      Aufankh nodded, frowning: I told him all of this two days ago. Has he applied nothing of it? Can he merely repeat?

      "We're the closest thing that Shu-Ani has to competition," Rahotep continued, his voice unemotional, carefully held. 

      Nehisuankhani had heard of Peh'reri- the products of that House were a luxury that not many afforded. She had once broken a set of Peh'reri silicate sculptures while playing with her other brother as a child, only ten years ago, she thought. The knives strapped to her wrists were Peh'reri, but with red Hemetine trim. 

      They started up a wide, columned stair, solidly built of the same industrial-feeling deck-plating that the rest of the massive Matchabet was constructed of. Color-coded signs pointed out directions to various areas of the immense super-freighter for the illiterate, and various minor functionaries and crew members of the ship bustled about. Aufankh sighed, he has so much yet to learn. But there's still time. "That is why it is so important for you to properly test these engines of yours. The IES-Beam engine has been in existence for thousands of years- uncountable numbers have been manufactured, and not much can be done to make them any better. If what you have managed to accomplish-" Aufankh began, gesturing behind them towards the hold and the Herit it contained. His eyes widened as he saw Nehisuankhani, who raised an eyebrow and winked, as he continued, smiling slightly, "-actually works outside of a testing environment, it becomes a significant asset to our House. However, if, through not following through on proper trial and testing procedures, you only result in making a fool of us publicly: calling into question the quality of Hemetine manufacturing."

      The pair and Nehisuankhani stepped off at a blue-colored deck with red trim: passenger accommodations. "I know," Rahotep said, almost sounding exasperated: His deep, almost raspy voice conveyed few emotions well except those that involved impatience. "I suppose that the over one thousand hours of on-board burn-in testing mean nothing in real application, then, Aufankh?" He lowered his voice a little, anger hidden to all other than Aufankh or Nehisuankhani: "I have very little doubt where I will find my brother." 

      So little patience, so like his mother, Aufankh thought. "What is more important, now, Hunen, is that we are in a position by the time that we decelerate to test that Herit in actual flight, preferably far from the actual destination system itself."  

      Rahotep narrowly glanced at Aufankh, not breaking a step. "I know about proper procedure, Aufankh. Is it not important at all to that brother of mine to recognize it also?" he said, almost impatiently.

      Aufankh bowed placatingly as he walked, apologetic in tone: "Of course, Hunen, but Ptah-Sokar has his own set of responsibilities to learn, his own place to fill in the Family." Aufankh looked straight into the eyes of Rahotep for the first time in the conversation, a piercing glare that the younger man could not hold for long, and lowered his voice, generating his own gravel that sounded nearly as menacing as Rahotep's cold, dry tones. "Keep in mind that your responsibility here is not to be your brothers' warden. Your responsibility is to see to the disposition of your House- a House that you will lead in the future. Any mistake that you make will be forever: you are House Hemet as much as your mother is and you need to think of that for a change."

      Nehisuankhani, still silently padding behind them in soft, layered-linen moccasins, almost gasped as she heard Aufankh: I have never heard anyone speak in that tone to him before! I'm surprised that Rahotep hasn't had him arrested. As it was, she crept a little closer as the two rounded a corner and entered the wing set aside for the Family apartments: this particular Matchabet was as much a symbol of House Hemet as Rahotep was and had been built specifically for Household business- and could support the entire administrative machine of the House indefinitely if so required within it's ungraceful bulk. 

      Red-and-black armored guards stepped apart to let them pass into the antechamber of the apartments. Stretching away into the distance, it's vast interior space was broken by regular ornamental columns and pennants. The sounds of running water and moving air immediately supplanted the more mundane throbbing and irregular grating sounds characteristic of the ship. The breeze smelled faintly of bu'ukh seed and bread- the things that garnered the House it's fortune in the days before they began their long climb into industrialization, thousands of years ago: The overall sensory experience similar only to being outdoors on the planet that the House called home. The only people present were the direct assistants and staff of the Family- this area was almost viewed as a ship within a ship, and was private. 

      Nehisuankhani almost piled directly into Aufankh's back as he stopped abruptly. She sidestepped at the last possible second before collision. "Ptah-Sokar," Rahotep called as he strode forward, standing over his brother. Seated on a long divan, Ptah-Sokar looked up at his older brother with a curious mixture of bemusement and resignation.  

      "Rahotep. Your test, how was it?" Ptah-Sokar shared the same narrow facial features of his two other siblings, but his posture was lower as he stood; and while his shoulders were broader than Rahotep's, they sloped to meet his arms instead of carrying them with purpose. His high voice was like that of an old man: the words came slowly, and he seemed to have to stop to put them together. Unlike his brother's official-looking kilt, bracers, collar and cape, Ptah-Sokar was dressed in long, fitting pants and a plain black collar over a brown shirt that almost screamed irreverence to his older brother. "I trust it was another in a long series of triumphs for you," he sighed, coming to his full height to stand in front of his brother. 

      Rahotep raised his voice almost imperceptibly. "Running that engine for five minutes cost more than your education, brother," he sneered, his first real emotional sound. "Not that you use it anyway." Rahotep stepped back, looking around to take in the sumptuously accorded chamber. "Nice to see that you've been up here, so intent on your study of what- music is it this month?" He gestured with his chin to the papers of notation and small instruments, scattered about on the divan, beginning to radiate anger. 

      Cowering just a little, Ptah-Sokar still dropped a hint of sarcasm: "This month and last, Rahotep." He saw Nehisuankhani for the first time. "My dear sister," he said with real emotion. "I'm relieved to see you. Let's find a way to avoid this shouting match before it starts?" he said, taking a step toward his sister, sounding plaintive.

      Glancing back, Rahotep noticed the youngest of the surviving children of his mother, and narrowed his eyes: almost never would he actually claim her as blood. "How long have you been here?" The sound of his voice was conversational, but with dangerous undertones. "As I recall, the sanctuary is three levels down from here. Go pray to your god like your father taught you and leave us to worry about the Family business." Nehisuankhani's eyes widened: Although never treated with respect by her brother, she was also never the recipient of his rage. Her confidence collapsing, she took a step backwards, as if slapped. "As for you, brother, tell me why- despite the fact that you were supposed to be be down in the hold- you have thus-far managed to sit and play your instruments while the rest of the House managed to take a step?" He was practically face-to-face with his younger brother now, looking down his long nose. Ptah-Sokar took another step back, calves hitting the edge of the divan. 

      Aufankh straightened his back and prepared to step forward to mitigate the damage before something unpleasant happened, but Ptah-Sokar waved him away. Gathering his confidence, Ptah-Sokar stood as tall as he could- still shorter than his brother- and said, "your engines are your business. This House is your business. I'm only here because I have no business." Rahotep narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows coming together. Ptah-Sokar turned and took a step away from his enraged brother, emerging from in front of the couch in relief. Shaking his head as if commenting on a great tragedy, Ptah-Sokar turned, smiling a bitter smile. "Here I am, at the bequest of the House, Rahotep. Note that my immediate presence is exactly where our mother told me to be." His voice trembled a little: "Not where I want to be. As usual. And this is after going to school, exactly where our mother told me to go. And before that, training in what was expected of me by my House." His small speech was reaching it's climax. He looked over at Nehisuankhani as if for reassurance, but had paled visibly. She shook her head at him, looking in apprehension between the brothers. "Nothing that I chose for myself." 

      Rahotep took a menacing step toward his brother. "And where is it that you want to be, brother? That's your problem. You don't want anything. You don't have any goals, Ptah-Sokar. Your existence is pointless, no matter how much you dally in this or that. Once you have died no one will remember you except our death cult." Ptah-Sokar had heard all of this before, and was mostly immune to the degradation of his brother, but it never failed to leave a black mark on him. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes. Rahotep continued, coming about to stand face-to-face with his younger brother, expressionless, but with eyes like daggers. "You've learned nothing, so you'll never do anything. Anything significant, that is. You'll sit and grow fat on the fortunes of my House and be a plague at my table, your children- if you're enough of a man- polluting our bloodline." He had Ptah-Sokar against a pylon now, with Aufankh striding forward to break them up. But, suddenly, they all felt the intense, but short-lived downward-and-back pull of gravity that indicated that they had decelerated back into reality. Nehisuankhani's long hair swayed visibly, while Ptah-Sokar reached out to stabilize himself against the column that decoratively implied that it held up the distant ceiling. 

      Quietly, filling the abrupt void in Rahotep's rant, Aufankh stepped forward, placing his hand on Rahotep's shoulder and pulling him back, gently. "Rahotep, you will be needed on the bridge," he said in a diplomatic voice. "You have duties to attend to." He immediately regretted his choice of words, but it was well-hidden. He could not meet Ptah-Sokar's eyes. 

      Rahotep was stone-faced, and did not soften the look as he turned to his sister, then back to Ptah-Sokar. "It would be a relief to my House if you got lost once we reached out destination, Ptah-Sokar," he quietly intoned, his brother looking down. Shifting his eyes to Nehisuankhani: "I recommend that you find a chapel to haunt until we return home, sister. You will not set foot off this ship. Neither of you," he said over his shoulder as he slowly spun on his heel and left the antechamber.

      Aufankh regarded the pair with a bleak look before he turned to follow Rahotep, who's hard footfalls echoed down the hall. Nehisuankhani, full of concern for her brother, quickly strode forward to take his arm as he tiredly slid back down on the divan. He broke into a sob as soon as he touched down on the couch, Nehisuankhani holding him against her shoulder and stroking his hair, tears in her eyes also. 

      Ptah-Sokar finally drew in a long, shuddering breath and pushed his sister away with care- misfits in situations like this do not alienate each other. "Perhaps Rahotep has a point, Nehi," he said, downbeat, using his private name for her. "Just a little more- all I have to do is pretend to like this, pretend to agree-" 

      "No, no, Pathy," Nehisuankhani shook her head at him, sliding away from Ptah-Sokar to the other end of the divan. "You could make a million shares of tenau, find millions in Tchaimu and Rahotep wouldn't find merit in you." Reaching behind her as Ptah-Sokar watched, she brought forth a small stringed instrument, meant to be struck with hammers. "At least this makes you happy, Pathy." She held the instrument out to her brother: "At least this can bring you some sort of satisfaction."

      Ptah-Sokar stood, waving his hand at what Nehisuankhani offered, shaking his head violently. "It brings me pleasure, yes. This month, perhaps, just like Rahotep said. But he's right- what have I ever followed through on?" He miserably wrung his hands, began pacing. Nehisuankhani  carefully placed the instrument back on the divan, stood, and, reaching up, took Ptah-Sokars' shoulders. 

      She turned her taller older brother to face her. She had an idea that Rahoteps' speech had brought to mind. "Look. The only thing that big brother had right is the fact that this is  my first time off-system. What is there out there?" she asked, making a grand, sweeping gesture. She spun back to face her brother, the cape spinning. "What is a Meh like? How big is it? What can I do there?"

      Ptah-Sokar looked cautiously at the portal that lead to the rest of the ship, and finally, conspiratorially, back to his sister. "It is big," he confessed. "Bigger than this ship, at least, by an order of magnitude. This Matchabet won't fit within it's largest dock- you'd have to take a shuttle over..." 

      Nehisuankhani clapped her hands together, all traces of the earlier confrontation gone, lost in a new, slightly crooked smile.  "That's the spirit!" she squealed. She began her own pacing, animatedly, lost in preparation. 

      She is still so young... Look at that enthusiasm! Ptah-Sokar thought. But he had made up his mind about something else. "You can't go anywhere looking like that," he said, pointing at her cape and robes. "First off, you look like a priestess-"

      "I am a priestess," she started, turning on him with a sweep of her cape. "A acolyte of Meretseger-" 

      "Which is, among other obvious qualities, something that you don't want to be over there." Her skin tingled at the idea- over there!- as Ptah-Sokar took her by the hand and lead her deeper into the family apartments. "You need to be innocuous,  inconspicuous. And most certainly not a fourteen-year old highborn on her first trip off system."

      She suddenly figured out where Ptah-Sokar was going with this: "You aren't coming?" she intoned, stopping short. Now fear had crept into her sudden elation. 

      He shook his head. "No, I am not coming. Once you've seen one of these things, you've seen them all,"  he said by way of explanation, taking her hand and leading her down the hall. "But I will help you pick something more appropriate from the wardrobe and run cover for you by distracting our dear older brother in a way that he won't expect." 

 


KFL by Allen P Gresham is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.