Space Cadets

Eliza sniffled into her mountain of pillows until she was sure Colin was gone and everyone would be retired to their rooms. Feeling cried out and needing a break from berating herself for having feelings, she decided she wanted a snack. She wiped her eyes and splashed cold water on her face. She opened the door to find the night guard; she didn’t know any of their names since they never showed up till she was asleep. He looked about to nod off himself but snapped to attention when he saw her.

“Miss Rothchild, did you need something?”

“Take the night off,” Eliza replied bluntly.

“Pardon?”

“Look, I’ve had a bad day so I’m going to go stay in my sister’s room,” she lied. “She has her own guard, right? So you don’t need to stay out here all night.”

“Oh. Well, should I walk you-“

“Nope. You shouldn’t.” Eliza stared him down till he shifted awkwardly and wished her good night. Once he was gone, she walked away from the guest chamber wing and headed off to the kitchens. She raided the dessert pantry for some cookies and was set to return to her room when she heard low voices coming from the hallway just outside.

“Everything is in place for tomorrow night. During the final fireworks display, the bomb will be launched directly toward the queen’s viewing box.”

Eliza froze, strangling her tin of cookies in a death grip.

“Good,” the second voice replied. “The entire immediate line of succession will be gone in one fell swoop. There better be no mistakes.”

“There won’t be.”

The voices moved slightly away, and Eliza crept to the kitchen door. She couldn’t see the men who’d been talking, though they’d disappeared in the same direction she needed to go to return to her room. Taking a breath, she took off at a sprint up the hall toward her room. Someone rounded the corner ahead of her and she slammed into them, almost sending them both to the ground.

She realized with distaste that it was the queen’s shady cousin, Lord Tyvern; who who had said she had bad manners. His lip curled at the sight of her.

“What are you doing out at this hour?” he snapped. “Aren’t you supposed to have a trained dog yapping at your heels and keeping you out of people’s way?”

“He’s not a trained dog,” Eliza said, forgetting in her annoyance that she was supposed to be mad at Colin. This guy really raised her hackles. He glanced down to see the cookies in her hand. A flicker of suspicion flashed in his eyes. Eliza felt her blood run cold when she realized his was the second voice she’d heard in the hall. Which means she had heard this man plotting to assassinate the queen and half the royal family. And who knew who else, since launching a bomb at the palace was going to cause untold damage. Eliza realized with a jolt that her family would be in the viewing box directly below the queen. They would certainly be killed, too.

“Well, I better be off then,” she said, with forced cheeriness. “You have a good night. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” She edged past him and made herself walk back to her room. She could comm her parents and the guards’ office, tell them what she’d heard. She was just opening her door when someone hit her from behind, knocking her into the room. She stumbled forward with a gasp, whirling to find Tyvern closing and locking her door. His face was thunderous.

“You nosy little bitch,” he hissed.

“I just wanted cookies,” Eliza protested. She lashed out with the tin and smacked him in the face. He cursed and she lunged toward her nightstand, trying to grab her comm. Hands came down roughly on her shoulders and pulled her away, spinning her around. The blow came so fast she didn’t even see it, and his knuckles cracked across her face.

“I didn’t even think you could make a fist,” she said, despite the sting in her cheek. He didn’t seem to think that was funny. He shoved her roughly and she fell back against her vanity table, upending the chair and her tray of makeup. Tyvern approached her again and Eliza lashed out with her foot, nailing him in the shin. She was drawing a breath to scream, in the hopes someone might hear. But someone gripped her by the hair and slammed her head into the leg of the vanity and she saw spots. Dazedly, she realized that someone else had entered her room, probably his accomplice.

“Get her out of here,” Tyvern snapped. “We’re too close now, I’m not going to let it be ruined by this little rat.”

Eliza noticed her scattered makeup and grabbed a tube of red lipstick. Hands roughly grabbed her by the arm, acutely dragging her toward the wall, which confused her. Then she realized there was a hidden opening, which is how her second attacker slipped in without her notice. Eliza popped the lid off her lipstick, letting the lipstick smudge and leave a line on the floor as they dragged her none too gently into the tunnel. Eventually someone would notice she was missing. The blow to her head began to trickle a thin line of blood into her eyes. She had managed to use up almost the entire lipstick tube before Tyvern noticed and with a growl, he yanked it away from her and tossed it on the floor.

“That was mine,” Eliza said. “Rude.”

Her left arm was released and she tumbled back. Then she shrieked as a foot came down sharply on her wrist. She heard a crack and pain radiated up her arm, making the world go black.

When Eliza woke up again, there was dried blood matted on her temple, her cheek was throbbing, and she was freezing. She started to push herself up and gasped at the pain in her wrist. She cradled it against her stomach with a whimper. She was somewhere dark, and had to let her eyes adjust. It took her a minute to work out that she was inside a large freezer room. The shelves were mostly empty and she supposed it was either where they’d stored extra food for the royal banquet. She started to shake, her teeth chattering. She staggered to her feet, which were mostly numb. She tried the door but of course it was either locked or barricaded from outside.

“Wow, this has been a really bad day. My sister steals my guard, and now I’m going to die in a freezer while my family gets blown up. They’ll probably find my body in like five years. And I never even got my fucking cookies.” She made a sound that was half sob and half laugh, feeling a little hysterical. How long would it take to die in here? Or would Tyvern come back after he blew her family to pieces and just slit her throat? She wouldn’t put it past him.

“This is some bullshit,” she said, kicking the door. It was a feeble kick because she could barely feel her feet and she was shaking violently. But she kicked it again. “Bullshit!” she repeated. “I just wanted cookies and to ride in hover cars I didn’t ask for cute boys or stupid feelings or psycho murderers. This. Is. Absolute. Bullshit!” She was yelling now and punctuated each word with as vicious a kick as she could manage, as if the door might just open itself if she yelled at it enough. She was preparing to kick the door again when to her amazement, it actually did open.

“Wait, that worked?” she said. Colin appeared in the open door, looking at once relieved and a little concerned. Part of her wanted to sob with relief and cling to him like a monkey but there were more pressing matters at hand than her own desires or comforts.

“How’d you get here?” Eliza asked.

“I found your lipstick trail.”

“That was a good idea, right? Till he caught me. He was pissed.”

Colin grabbed her shoulders and steered her out of the freezer. She stumbled a little, the rush of warmer air making her wince. Colin studied her and took in the blood and bruising, and the way she protectively cradled her limp wrist against her body. His jaw clenched.

“Eliza, who did this?” he asked slowly.

“It was Lord Tyvern,” Eliza said absently. She tried to blow on the fingers of her good hand in an effort to warm them. “The queen’s cousin, the one who’s a giant dick. I threw my cookies at him but he hit me. And then he found the lipstick and his friend stomped on my arm. It really hurts. But we have to go. I have to go. I have to stop the fireworks.”

She staggered toward the door, her limbs awkward as sensation began to slowly return.

“Eliza you need to see a doctor-“

“They have a bomb. They’re trying to kill the queen.”

“What?”

“I heard him, that’s why he took me. The fireworks… we have to go. We have to stop him. He’ll kill everyone. His family, my family, the guards. We have to tell them, and we have to find him.”

“Eliza, I’ll deal with it. You need to see a doctor.”

“A crazy asshole is going to blow up my family, like hell am I sitting around twiddling my one good thumb,” she growled. She felt on the brink of a breakdown from the cold, the pain, and the tumultuous jumble of emotions she was feeling; but she was not about to let Tyvern get away with his plan. Colin was pulling his official work comm out of his uniform pocket, contacting General Hannon to tell him to get everyone away from the viewing area before the fireworks started.

“Colin? I can’t really hear you, what about the fireworks?”

“Call them off,” Colin shouted into the comm screen. “There’s a bomb. You have to get everyone away from there now.”

Eliza flinched when she heard the first firework go off.

“They already started,” she said frantically, terror flaring in her chest. “There’s no time, we have to get down to where they’re firing them off and find Tyvern.”

“How are we going to get there?”

Eliza pointed ahead, where they could see the hangar that stored the royal hover vehicles. “We’re taking one of those.”

“Eliza, you can’t drive with one hand.”

“Watch me.”